The Hon. B. Ariyawansha

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson, both the Hon. Minister and the Deputy Minister are present. This is a crucial Ministry that sustains over 22 million people. About 36% of the labour force and roughly 75% of the population engage in agriculture in some form.

¶ 02 We spoke about paddy today, but also vegetable and fruit farmers, and minor export crops—pepper, cinnamon, coconut—all fall under agriculture. Farmers face numerous obstacles: limited land, floods and droughts, wildlife damage, lack of quality seed, and rising prices of seed and agro-chemicals. Fertilizer subsidy is given only for paddy—what of vegetable and fruit farmers, particularly banana and wood-apple cultivators—who must now spend heavily to buy fertilizer?

¶ 03 Marketing difficulties are another issue: about 30% of vegetables and fruits are wasted. We know the Ministry acted in limited ways so far; we hope this Budget will address these.

¶ 04 The floor price for paddy has been set at Rs. 120/kg. Traders are currently buying from farmers at Rs. 135–140/kg in some places. We must structure it so both farmer and consumer are protected. When your government took office, Nadu rice retailed at Rs. 170/kg; now it is up by Rs. 50 to about Rs. 220/kg. Previously, retail prices reached Rs. 230–300/kg while traders had bought paddy at Rs. 85–100/kg—not at today’s Rs. 120–140. Given current purchase prices, can consumers get rice at a controlled price of about Rs. 220/kg? I ask the Ministry to focus on this.

¶ 05 In Embilipitiya (Ratnapura), many live off banana cultivation. Today, Ambul banana is Rs. 60/kg and Kolikuttu about Rs. 140/kg at the farm gate; by the time it reaches Colombo, consumers pay roughly triple—Ambul at around Rs. 180/kg—while the farmer gets very little.

¶ 06 Another grave issue: fruit ripening using chemicals such as “Ethrel” (ethephon)—highly toxic. Today, wood-apple, banana, mango in the market are often ripened using such chemicals. Bananas are treated before loading; by the next day in Colombo they are ripe. Such fruit quickly overripens and spoils. In the past, traditional methods—smoke with leaves—allowed fruit to last at least a week. Chemical ripening causes faster spoilage, and consumers cannot use them properly. I urge a special program to stop using toxic chemicals for fruit ripening.

¶ 07 Our cinnamon and pepper farmers generate valuable export income. Recently, issues arose with pepper: imports from countries like Vietnam and re-exporting depressed prices; clove (karunka) prices have also fallen—farmers cannot sell, with clove now around Rs. 550/kg, down from Rs. 1,000–1,500. Exporters say large quantities of cloves are imported from Indonesia for onward export to India, sidelining our produce, leaving our clove farmers in hardship. The Ministry must address this.

¶ 08 The Spices and Allied Products Marketing Board under the Ministry once operated 29 retail outlets providing quality spices to the public; now 24 have been closed—only about 4–5 remain—resulting in job losses. This is the only state entity closed after your government assumed office. The Board also owes large sums to traders for procured spices. Considering alleged corruption during previous administrations, I ask the current Minister to investigate and to reestablish an affordable, reliable state channel for local spices.

¶ 09 Both the Minister and Deputy Minister have long worked with farmers and know their problems. As MPs who stand for the poor, we will support your programs for farmers, agriculture, and the country.

¶ 10 Thank you.