A farmers’ organisation in the North Central Province has warned the government that it will stage large-scale protest marches in Colombo unless authorities act urgently on fertilizer shortages and collapsing paddy prices, Ada Derana reported on Sunday.
The Galenbindunuwewa, Dutuwewa Paranagama Gamunu United Farmers’ Organization said cultivators were facing severe hardship on two fronts. Its President, K. Hemarathne, said fertilizer was either unavailable in the open market or priced between Rs. 9,000 and Rs. 18,500 a bag — beyond reach for most smallholders.
At the same time, paddy was being bought at the farm gate at around Rs. 100–105 per kilogram, which the organisation said did not even recover production costs. With input prices rising and farm-gate prices falling, paddy and vegetable cultivators risked exiting farming altogether, Hemarathne added.
The growers called on the government to ensure proper delivery of the fertilizer subsidy and to take immediate steps to bring prices down, warning that failure to act would have direct consequences for national food security.
The Galenbindunuwewa protest threat comes amid a broader Yala-season squeeze. Growers in Hambantota, Polonnaruwa, Anuradhapura and Ampara have already complained of urea shortages at the height of the season, while the government has opened urea distribution to private importers and traders to plug the supply gap. The Agriculture Ministry last week also moved samples of 2019-stock MOP fertilizer recovered in Thambuttegama and Rambewa to Colombo for urgent testing after farmers complained of substandard product.
