Ukraine war affects fertilizer prices that impact Sri Lanka, says Japan's Envoy

COLOMBO (News 1st); Japan's envoy to Sri Lanka has stressed on the proper use of fertilizer, which is critical to sustain and enhance productivity.

Mizukoshi Hideaki, the Ambassador of Japan to Sri Lanka said that the global volatility in fertilizer prices, largely caused by the situation in Ukraine, has posed a severe challenge to Sri Lanka, where agriculture remains a cornerstone industry.

Over the past year the government of Japan has allocated grants amounting to nearly USD 100 million to Sri Lanka, including 

"In recent times the issue of water scarcity has become serious as I heard from the farmers, posing significant challenges to our rice farmers," he said while attending an event to distribute free fertilizer to smallholder paddy farmers in the Jaffna District, in the north of Sri Lanka.

The FAO delivered 8,360 Tonnes of Japan-funded Fertilizer to Support Smallholder Paddy Farmers in Sri Lanka recently, and on Thursday (10) fertilizer was distributed to farmers in Jaffna.

The Food and Agriculture Organization delivered 8,360 metric tonnes of urea fertilizer this week to the Ministry of Agriculture for distribution during the forthcoming Maha cropping season. 

This was made possible through generous funding from the government of Japan.

Under this emergency assistance programme, farmers cultivating up to 0.5 hectares of land will receive 25 kg of urea fertilizer free of charge, while those cultivating up to 1 hectare of land will receive 50 kg of urea, also provided at no cost to the farmers.

This initiative worth of 4.63 million US dollars aims to address the difficulties in accessing fertilizers due to the economic crisis and targets approximately 228,000 small-scale farmers with less than 1 hectare of land in the intermediate and dry zones.