Does the enthusiasm that authorities have for projects which provide an opportunity to earn commissions and bleed money from the country also extend to the problems faced by the agrarian community?
The answer to this question lies in the issue of the fertiliser shortage currently affecting the nation’s farmers.
Twenty thousand (20,000) acres of paddy fields are cultivated with water from the Rajanganaya Reservoir.
The relevant area includes 64 farmers organisations, and after three seasons of drought rendered their crops useless, the farmers began tilling the soil for the Maha season with many hopes and aspirations.
However, when the time came to apply the first round of fertiliser, all 64 farmers organisations received a single truckload of fertiliser. Farmers question whether the obvious fact that this amount is insufficient, needs to be pointed out to the relevant authorities.
Meanwhile, farmers reacted thus:
“One lorry of fertiliser is not enough for even one farmer’s organisation. There is no fertiliser and our crops are being destroyed.”
“We are not receiving any new stocks of fertiliser. We are unable to supply the farmers with the amounts they require. It is very scarce.”
“Both our son and daughter are sitting for their advanced level examinations. If we cannot cultivate this season too, we will be ruined.”
“We don’t have enough fertiliser, they are not providing us with the basic facilities we need to cultivate. It is very disheartening. I plead with them, the rulers of our country, not to force farmers to this state.”
According to traders, they too have been affected as a result of the fertiliser shortage. Farmers in the Ampara district, the largest rice producing district in the country, have also been affected by the shortage.
C.H. Kumara the President of the Uhana Bedum Ela Farmers Organisation bears testament to the troubles faced by his community.
