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Agriculture Insurance Board to compensate farmers

05 Jan 2022

BY Buddhika Samaraweera Minister of Agriculture Mahindananda Aluthgamage yesterday (5) said that the Agricultural and Agrarian Insurance Board (AAIB) is currently preparing to pay compensation to farmers for crop-related damages. Speaking to the media, he claimed that Rs. 5,000 million had been paid as compensation through the AAIB for crop damages to farmers last year. Accordingly, compensation for crop damage will be paid for this year as well, he said. Meanwhile, All Ceylon Farmers’ Federation (ACFF) Convener Namal Karunaratne stated yesterday that the Ministry of Agriculture should take action to pay unconditional compensation for the crop damages caused by the current fertiliser crisis. “Throughout the past, Aluthgamage has said that compensation would be paid for all crop damages, but now he says that compensation would only be paid to farmers who have used all the fertilisers provided by the Government. Therefore, we urge the Government to pay compensation to farmers as previously promised without imposing any conditions,” Karunaratne added. Speaking to the media on 2 December 2021, Aluthgamage stated that the Ministry of Agriculture would take action to pay compensation only to farmers who have cultivated using the four types of fertilisers provided by the Government. He had also said that the Government could not compensate the farmers who were just waiting doing nothing. “We first distributed organic solid fertilisers to the farmers and then bioliquid fertilisers, potassium chloride and nano nitrogen liquid fertilisers. All four of these fertilisers should have been used by the farmer to get compensation for crop damages. Otherwise, the Government will not be able to pay the compensation if the farmers do nothing and keep their mouths open,” he said. A proposal to ban the use and importation of chemical fertilisers and agrochemicals including pesticides, fungicides and herbicides/weedicides was submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa last April and the same was granted approval, following which the relevant gazette notification was issued on 6 May 2021. However, the Government decided to revoke Extraordinary Gazette No. 2226/48 of 6 May 2021, which banned the importation of chemical fertilisers and agrochemicals, and to thereby allow the private sector to import the same, with effect from 24 November 2021. However, throughout the past few months, farmers in several areas were seen charging that there is a serious shortage of fertiliser for their cultivations and a number of protests have also been organised by farmers’ organisations and various parties demanding that the Government provide a solution to the fertiliser shortage.


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