The Hon. (Dr.) (Ms.) Harini Amarasuriya - Prime Minister
The Prime Minister attributed the coconut crisis to past fertilizer policy decisions, noting that coconut yields are affected by a 39–44 month biological lag. She said the Government is acting to ensure timely fertilizer availability, plans to support coconut cultivation through the upcoming Budget, and will separately manage short-term consumer supply concerns while longer-term production measures take effect.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, the present crisis in coconut stems from past policy decisions, especially on fertilizers, which severely impacted the industry. Without timely fertilizer, there cannot be proper yields, given the 39–44 month biological lag. We are intervening to ensure timely fertilizer availability and plan to provide support to coconut cultivation in the upcoming Budget. However, results will take time because today’s application does not yield tomorrow’s harvest; the biological cycle is 39–44 months. In the interim, we will separately manage consumer supply issues. I reiterate that our Government is acting to resolve the crisis created by the failure to provide proper fertilizer to coconut.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Wednesday, 5 February 2025 ·No. 1739175806099814 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. (Dr.) (Ms.) Harini Amarasuriya - Prime Minister. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 5 February 2025. No. 1739175806099814. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/26743