16 October 2021 12:00 am Views - 90
It does not matter whether one uses organic or chemical fertiliser as long as a good crop is secured, a State Minister said yesterday.
State Minister of Company Estate Reforms, Tea and Rubber Estates Related Crops Cultivation and Factories Modernisation and Tea and Rubber Export Promotion Kanaka Herath came out with these remarks at a ceremony held in Kegalle to provide assistance to 40 new ornamental fish farmers and 38 existing farmers in the district.
“It does not matter what kind of fertiliser is given particularly to tea growers. Chemical or organic is irrelevant as long as they get a good produce at the end of the day. Opposition politicians go from estate to estate and allege that organic fertiliser will not give an adequate produce. This does not matter as the delay in supply of fertiliser is resolved now. There can be few shortcomings but these will be rectified,” the State Minister said.
He said government had already provided 75 percent of annual demand of T 200 and T 75 fertilisers to growers.
Around 400 applications have been received from ornamental fish farmers for financial assistance according to the State Ministry out of which 167 have been found to be eligible for assistance. Around 40 new farmers were given Rs. 125,000 each while 38 existing farmers received Rs. 50,000 initially. The total amount spent for the purpose is Rs 6.9 million according to the Ministry.