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Farmers to be provided a 50kg bag of Urea at Rs.10,000

Published

3 years ago

October 28, 2022

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The Ministry of Agriculture has received the first stock of 13,000 tons of Urea fertilizer today (28) under the World Bank concessional emergency loan of 110 million US dollars and accordingly, the government has decided to provide a 50 kg bag of urea fertilizer to paddy farmers at Rs.10,000.

This step was taken to protect household food security, farming and rural incomes based on the demands made during several discussions with the intervention of President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said.

This World Bank support complements the support of other development partners such as the Asian Development Bank and the United States Agency for International Development.

Sri Lanka requires approximately 150,000 tonnes of urea fertilizer for paddy cultivation during the Maha season. Mr. Rohana Pushpakumara, Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Mr. Suren Batagoda, President’s Senior Adviser on Food Security, confirmed that it is possible to provide this requirement completely.

The fertilizer will be distributed directly to the paddy farmers through Agrarian Service Centres. Paddy farmers who grow paddy up to a minimum of 2 hectares will be able to purchase a fixed number of bags of fertilizer depending on the area they have prepared for paddy.

The maximum amount of fertilizer each farmer can purchase is determined based on the recommendations of the Department of Agriculture, with variations depending on the agro ecological zone. In addition, 12,000 metric tons of urea is to be provided for 60,000 hectares of maize farmers, and the price of a 50 kg bag is set at Rs.15,000.

Currently, the war in Ukraine and the world’s geopolitical conditions present a very challenging market situation in terms of the production and distribution of fertilizer.

Amid rising market prices, the Ministry of Agriculture has signed an agreement to supply 12,500 metric tons, 50,000 metric tons and 45,000 metric tons of urea under three phases.

The agreement to procure another 25,000 metric tons of urea is to be signed shortly.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, 21,000 metric tons of urea have already been distributed to the farmers under the Indian Concessional Loan facility.

With the support of the World Bank, the Ministry of Agriculture has taken steps to deploy a Geo-Enabled Monitoring System (GEMS) to monitor the distribution of fertilizer from ports to agrarian service centres and from agrarian service centres to farmers. The system is also used for environmental and social risk management, grievance redress and impact.

Related Topics:agriculture Featured lka SriLanka

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Major reforms planned for bus transport

Published

1 hour ago

April 28, 2025

editor

Minister of Transport, Highways, Ports, and Aviation, Bimal Rathnayake, recently held a special discussion with officials from the National Transport Commission (NTC), the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB), and the Provincial Road Passenger Transport Authorities across nine provinces. The meeting led to several key decisions aimed at modernizing and improving the country’s road passenger transport sector.

Among the major initiatives discussed were:

Immediate implementation of an integrated bus timetable for the Puttalam route.
Launch of a pilot project on Route 138, where all buses operate under a single association with profit-sharing arrangements.
Installation of GPS and CCTV systems in buses for improved monitoring and safety.
Development of an online ticket booking system in collaboration with the Ministry of Digital Technology.
Introduction of random drug and alcohol testing for bus drivers.
Mandatory issuance of bus tickets through electronic ticketing machines (implementation phase in progress).
Formulation of specifications for buses used in passenger transport.
Mandatory seatbelt usage for bus drivers.
Identification of new roads/routes for the addition of new bus services.
Provision of WhatsApp numbers for passengers to report complaints about buses, with numbers prominently displayed inside buses.
Minister Rathnayake emphasized the need for swift action to implement these measures and instructed officials to continuously monitor and report on the progress of each initiative.

(dailynews.lk)

(Except for the headline, this story, originally published by dailynews.lk has not been edited by SLM staff)

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Chongqing gears up for 25th Lijia International Intelligent Equipment expo

Published

3 hours ago

April 28, 2025

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The international internet celebrity city of Chongqing in China will host a grand equipment manufacturing industry event – the 25th Lijia International Intelligent Equipment Exhibition 2025 next month.

The Expo will be held at the Chongqing International Expo Center from May 13th to 16th, 2025, attracting exhibitors and professional visitors from all over the world to discuss and showcase the latest technologies and products in the equipment manufacturing industry.

This exhibition, spanning across 100,000 sq. meters will bring together 1,400 globally renowned enterprises which will showcase their intelligent manufacturing equipment and technology, particularly the latest achievements, cutting-edge technologies, and high-end products in the fields of machine tools, industrial automation and robots, tool holders and measuring tools, sheet metal, die-casting casting, molds, rubber and plastic.

The 2025 Lijia Exhibition will also create multiple themed exhibition islands showcasing manufacturing powerhouses of China, which will comprehensively showcase solutions to industry pain points through on-site demonstrations, technical explanations, and physical displays.

In addition, the exhibition will also hold over 100 industry conferences and events. The main forum, “FIM-Future Intelligent Manufacturing Conference,” focuses on future factories, with the theme of AI+manufacturing. Industry experts are expected to provide suggestions and recommendations for manufacturing transformation.

Organizers point out that for global manufacturing enterprises, the expo is not only an excellent opportunity to learn about the latest technologies and products in China’s equipment manufacturing industry, but also also an important platform for gaining a deeper understanding of the Chinese market and expanding international cooperation. It will also open up opportunities to engage in in-depth exchanges and cooperation with Chinese counterparts, and to jointly promote the development and prosperity of the global equipment manufacturing industry.

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RW issues special statement after exiting CIABOC (Video)

Published

4 hours ago

April 28, 2025

editor

Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe has left the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) after providing a statement today (April 28).

Soon afterwards, he had also made a special statement in this regard.

(Video : VoiceTube)

(Previous news 2025 April 28 – 9.20.a.m.)

Ex-President Ranil to appear before CIABOC today

Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe is scheduled to appear before the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) today (April 28) at 9.30 a.m.

He has been summoned to record a statement over the statement he had made on MP Chamara Sampath Dassanayake.

Former President Wickremesinghe, who was initially summoned to the CIABOC on April 17 but requested a postponement. He had requested a date after April 27th to appear before CIABOC, citing that his lawyer Ronald Perera is currently abroad.

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