The Hon. R.M. Ranjith Madduma Bandara

¶ 01 Hon. Chairman, I move that, for Heads 118, 281, 282, 285–289, 292, 327 and 337 taken up today, 2025.11.27, all recurrent and capital expenditure under each programme be reduced by Rs. 10 in accordance with tradition.

¶ 02 Agriculture, which employs a vast number, is in dire straits. Your policy statement “A Prosperous Country – A Beautiful Life” made many promises to farmers. Yet today farmers are in extreme distress due to your policies and inefficiency. According to the World Bank, 35 per cent of our people are below the poverty line; 80 per cent of them are farmers. In districts such as Monaragala, Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa, farmers are now destitute.

¶ 03 Though 24 per cent of the population are farmers, last year their contribution to GDP was only 8.18 per cent. In 1994, after reforms, it was around 22 per cent. Over 31 years, farmers have become poorer. Last year alone, 150,000 left farming. Cultivation on paddy lands has fallen by about 10 per cent. Today, farmers are among the poorest. Production has fallen. Public servants’ salaries are increased—we do not oppose that—but the only farmer subsidy, fertilizer, is being reduced and limited to paddy. Under the yahapalana Government we gave any farmer—paddy, vegetables, tea, coconut—a fertilizer pack at Rs. 1,500. Now fertilizer bags cost Rs. 11,000–12,000. How can farmers farm?

¶ 04 I thank Hon. Ravi Karunanayake; in 2015 he allocated Rs. 49 billion for fertilizer subsidies; today it is cut to Rs. 36 billion. Dollar is now Rs. 310 versus Rs. 138 then; fertilizer prices have more than doubled. Yet you are reducing support and delaying payments to farmers’ accounts. For Maha, 0.88 million hectares are intended; for Yala, 0.58 million. The DG of Agrarian Services says 93 per cent have been paid, but the Minister says payments come after fertilizer application. Many areas have not received support; Yala payments came even after harvest. This is inefficiency.

¶ 05 Properly, at Rs. 15,000 per hectare, Rs. 12 billion is needed for 800,000 hectares, but only Rs. 6 billion has gone—so the numbers do not add up. A paddy hectare needs about Rs. 52,000 for fertilizer (two urea, TSP, MOP). You give Rs. 25,000. Under our Government, with Hon. Ravi Karunanayake as Finance Minister, farmers received a 75 per cent subsidy. Gotabaya Rajapaksa destroyed agriculture with the chemical ban; people voted for you to fix it, but you have not. Youth are leaving agriculture; yields of potato and onion are down; paddy yields down. Allocate more for fertilizer across all crops.

¶ 06 You have set aside Rs. 500 million for rice dryers—this benefits millers, not farmers. The President first promised to raise rice prices by Rs. 10—a boon to millers, not farmers. Last year, Rs. 1,045 billion was spent on importing food; in 1994 we were self-sufficient in many items, now only about 10 per cent. We need agricultural modernization: improved seed, proper soil testing, and inputs. You promised but did not deliver.

¶ 07 On maize: in 2020 we produced about 80 per cent of national need—around 450,000 MT out of 600,000 MT—but now production has fallen by about 200,000 MT due to lack of fertilizer and support; farmers in Monaragala, Anuradhapura, Ampara are being pushed off land. We now spend billions in foreign exchange importing maize for poultry feed and ethanol. Maize seed bags (5 kg) cost Rs. 15,000–20,000. Provide subsidies.

¶ 08 You claim Treasury surpluses—then why not support farmers? Government grows richer by taxing the people; the farmer grows poorer.

¶ 09 On big onion: earlier we produced 40–50 per cent; now only about 55,000 MT. The Food Security Committee is supposed to decide duties with the Agriculture and Trade Ministers, but duties were delayed two weeks after the decision, allowing importers to bring in 29,000 MT; we had 55,000 MT locally. In Sept 2024, 156,000 MT were imported; this year 226,000 MT—creating a glut and suppressing farm-gate prices due to poor coordination. The same pattern hit potatoes: area fell from 5,610 ha (2019) to 3,253 ha, and reportedly near 1,000 ha now, as seed potatoes are expensive (Rs. 45,000 per MT seed equivalent), and duties were imposed only on 28 August after importers brought in 23,000 MT.

¶ 10 Create a functioning agricultural data system, as promised, to align domestic output and import timing/duties. You allocated Rs. 500 million to improve productivity in groundnut, potato, and red onion; as of the 30th of last month, only Rs. 9 million had been spent.

¶ 11 You promised to create 50,000 young agri-entrepreneurs in five years; Rs. 500 million was allocated, but only 28 loans have been given. For rehabilitation of tanks like Gal Oya, Nuwara, Rajangana, Rs. 2,000 million was allocated; progress is only 37 per cent.

¶ 12 On crop damage by wildlife—monkeys, peafowl, porcupines—which causes 30–40 per cent losses: you conducted a costly census claiming 13 million animals. At this rate they will outnumber the human population. Yet nothing is allocated this year to mitigate such damage. In the past, licensed firearms helped protect crops; today there is no protection. Please introduce a workable mitigation programme.

¶ 13 We must also be prepared for disasters. In 2016–17 we had a similar cycle. Then, under a national catastrophe insurance, we paid out Rs. 1.5 billion: Rs. 2 million per house destroyed, Rs. 2.5 million per business, Rs. 1 million for loss of life, and support for damaged cultivation. That insurance has lapsed. Please reinstate it under the National Insurance Trust Fund so the poorest—those living in hills and forests—are protected.

¶ 14 In closing: your manifesto promised Rs. 3 million income per acre—if so, with 6 million acres cultivated, Sri Lanka’s per capita income would be No. 1 in the world. At least protect what remains and deliver on promises for our suffering farmers.

¶ 15 Thank you.