SRI LANKA: Sri Lanka extends fertilizer subsidy to rubber

Sri Lanka’s government has officially decided to extend the existing fertilizer subsidy to tea, rubber and vegetable farmers, Special Assignments Minister Sarath Amunugama said.

“According to our estimates one third of the fertilizer subsidy for paddy farmers ultimately ended up with tea and rubber farmers through various irregularities,” Amunugama said. “So after taking into account those things, we decided to allocate 2 billion rupees for the fertilizer subsidy of tea and rubber farmers.”

Source: Daily “Lanka Business Online”, Colombo; 17 Mar 2016
(Syed Rashid Ali, Karachi, Pakistan)