The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the procurement of an additional 15,000 metric tonnes of urea fertilizer for the 2026 Yala paddy season, with distribution to be handled through Agrarian Service Committees under the Department of Agrarian Development, Ada Derana reported on Tuesday.
The top-up was based on a proposal submitted by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation. Although initial estimates set the season’s paddy extent at 550,000 hectares, current projections point to between 450,000 and 500,000 hectares, with an associated urea requirement of about 75,000 metric tonnes, the Cabinet was told. A total of 48,297.87 metric tonnes already in stock is currently being distributed through Agrarian Service Committees.
A separate Cabinet meeting on April 6 had set the subsidised retail price of a 50-kilogram bag of urea at Rs. 10,200. Tuesday’s approval covers the additional volume needed to cover the projected gap between in-stock supply and full-season demand.
The procurement comes against the backdrop of a running shortage of subsidised urea in core paddy districts flagged in mid-May, and follows protests by Galenbindunuwewa farmers over delayed fertilizer for paddy. Agriculture Minister K.D. Lal Kantha previously insisted there was no Yala fertilizer shortage, and the government has authorised private-sector urea distribution alongside the state channel. Yala season inputs are also covered by a Rs. 100,000-per-hectare crop insurance scheme extended to paddy, maize, potatoes, soya, chillies and big onions earlier on Tuesday.
Source: Ada Derana.
