The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has decided to give a stipend of Rs.15,000 (USD 42) per family to low-income rice farming families in seven districts for their livelihood development.
Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said steps will be taken to provide this allowance to farming families living in Jaffna, Mullaitivu, Mannar, Trincomalee, Vavuniya, Moneragala and Batticaloa districts whose monthly income is less than Rs.41,500.
As a result of the discussions conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Development, USAID has given instructions to give this amount to the low-income farming families in those districts.
The Commissioner General of the Department of Agricultural Development said that this amount will be given in two installments in the month of January.
The Asian Development Bank has also arranged to give an amount of Rs.8 billion to 1.2 Mn farming families in the country. An amount ranging from 10,000 to 20,000 rupees will be given to the farmers and under the first phase, arrangements have been made to credit Rs.4 billion to the respective farmers’ accounts before December 31. Another amount of Rs.4 billion will be credited to farmers’ accounts in January, the Farmers and People’s Development Department said.
Under that, farmers who cultivate up to one hectare will be given Rs.10,000 and farmers who cultivate up to two hectares will be given Rs.20,000 grant.
The Agriculture Minister said that not a single allowance will be charged back from the farmers and all these international aid has been given as free grants to the farmers in our country. The minister also emphasized that this amount of relief has not been given to the farmers of our country in any other cropping season.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), with funding through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), will distribute 36,000 metric tonnes of Triple Super Phosphate (TSP) fertilizer to all paddy farmers in Sri Lanka through the Ministry of Agriculture. The amount of TSP provided per farmer will be determined based on the area they cultivated in the 2022/2023 Maha cultivation season.
The distribution list, along with the land extent cultivated during this Maha Season, has been published and displayed at all Agrarian Service Centres of the Department of Agrarian Development. FAO invites all eligible paddy farmers to visit their respective Agrarian Service Centre and ensure their details have been incorporated. The distribution lists will be displayed until January 5, 2023, and the date of fertilizer distribution will be shared through the Agrarian Service Centres.
Add new comment