The Hon. Wasantha Samarasinghe

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, in response to the supplementary, the key number is “65.” Previously, with no duty, in 2019 the country produced about 58,000 MT—nearly 70% of annual consumption. That quantity has continuously declined to around 29,000–30,000 MT in 2024. For 2025, we estimate 35,000–40,000 MT, Hon. Member. We are providing fertilizer and seed subsidies. Since ~70% of red onions are produced in Jaffna, the real issue is the absence of a mechanism to purchase and store the farmer’s output and release it according to market demand. That role used to be done by the Co-operative Wholesale Establishment (CWE). The previous government sold those assets, even selling the lorry fleet for scrap—40 lorries by September 2023, including a lorry worth Rs. 1.3 million reportedly sold for Rs. 650,000.

¶ 02 As Government, at the Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Co-operative Development, and with the attention of the Ministry of Agriculture, and with agreement of the Secretary to the Treasury at the 632 Committee, we are preparing a program to (i) purchase a share of the farmers’ onions, (ii) provide storage, and (iii) manage prices in the market when volatility emerges. Market prices have hovered around Rs. 400–600 per kilo. To sustain farmer interest, a purchase and price-support program is needed. The Government is considering and will take steps accordingly.