Topic
Agriculture
1,763 speeches · 318 speakers
Party share
By the speaker's party · counts only, no scoring. "Unattributed" = speeches not resolved to an MP.
Most active on this topic
| # | Member | Speeches |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hon. Namal Karunaratne, M.P. JJB | 104 |
| 2 | Hon. Wasantha Samarasinghe, M.P. JJB | 93 |
| 3 | Hon. K.V. Samantha Viddyarathna, M.P. JJB | 83 |
| 4 | Hon. (Dr.) Susil Ranasinghe, M.P. JJB | 48 |
| 5 | Hon. Kins Nelson, M.P. SJB | 39 |
| 6 | Hon. K.D. Lal Kantha, M.P. JJB | 37 |
| 7 | Hon. Ravi Karunanayake, M.P. NDF | 32 |
| 8 | Hon. (Dr.) Nalinda Jayatissa, M.P. JJB | 32 |
| 9 | Hon. Sajith Premadasa, M.P. SJB | 32 |
| 10 | Hon. Ramalingam Chandrasekar, M.P. JJB | 30 |
Speeches
1,763 on this topic- 14 March 2025 The Hon. K.V. Samantha Viddyarathna JJB AI summary The Hon. K.V. Samantha Viddyarathna clarified that the delay in distributing the blended fertilizer was not caused by elections but by the need to obtain Russian concurrence because MOP is being blended with phosphate and urea and issued at a subsidized price. He stated that approval was received about two weeks earlier, blending and bagging are underway at the Fertilizer Corporation, and distribution is expected to begin at the end of the month in time for application. Appropriation Bill 2025: Committee Stage - Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure (Heads 135, 293, 337) Read →
- 14 March 2025 The Hon. Nalin Bandara Jayamaha SJB AI summary Hon. Nalin Bandara Jayamaha highlighted the global demand for coconut products and urged measures to support Sri Lanka’s coconut exporters, who he said face shortages and competition from countries such as Vietnam and the Philippines. He called for protection of the industry through measures including attention to the removal of SVAT and provision of low-interest loans, noting the sector’s foreign exchange earnings and target to reach USD 1 billion. He also questioned delays in distributing Russia-donated MOP fertilizer intended for coconut cultivation and urged that it be issued before the rains rather than being held for election-related timing. Appropriation Bill 2025: Committee Stage - Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure (Heads 135, 293, 337) Read →
- 14 March 2025 The Hon. Dharmapriya Dissanayake JJB AI summary Hon. Dharmapriya Dissanayake, speaking during the Vote on the Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure, focused on the coconut sector and said the Budget should support increased production, exports, intercropping, and value-added industries. He cited targets of about 3,000 million nuts annually and export earnings rising from Rs. 247 billion to Rs. 265 billion, while arguing that land fragmentation, alienation, and misuse of coconut estates had reduced production. He referred to past allocations of Kurunegala Plantations Limited lands and said stronger controls, improved inputs, fertilizer, irrigation restoration, and planned replanting/intercropping were needed to revive coconut cultivation, particularly in the North Western Province. Appropriation Bill 2025: Committee Stage - Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure (Heads 135, 293, 337) Read →
- 14 March 2025 The Hon. Arun Hemachandra JJB AI summary Hon. Arun Hemachandra stated that the Ministry intends to address both sectoral production issues, including palmyrah and hill-country tea, and communities’ basic infrastructure needs. He emphasized the aim of providing permanent solutions through the Ministry. Appropriation Bill 2025: Committee Stage - Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure (Heads 135, 293, 337) Read →
- 14 March 2025 The Hon. Arun Hemachandra - Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Employment JJB AI summary Arun Hemachandra argued that plantation sectors such as coconut, palmyrah, tea and cinnamon had declined due to past mismanagement, poor land use, the chemical fertilizer ban, weak value addition and lack of reliable data. He said the Government is beginning scientific approaches to issues such as animal damage and agricultural statistics, while also developing the palmyrah sector through a non-political board and seeking to strengthen export earnings. He emphasized that estate communities require basic rights, including addresses, land, housing and education, and that rebuilding tea and other plantation industries should proceed alongside environmental protection. Appropriation Bill 2025: Committee Stage - Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure (Heads 135, 293, 337) Read →
- 14 March 2025 Hon. Nishantha Perera JJB AI summary Hon. Nishantha Perera said Sri Lanka’s tea industry is in a severe crisis, citing past mismanagement, audit concerns, halted replanting and factory development, and the impact of the abrupt shift to organic fertilizer. He stated that the Government has allocated funds for the Tea Small Holdings Development Authority, tea research, factory development, replanting, fallow land subsidies, direct planting and mechanization, while also reducing electricity and fuel costs to ease production expenses. He also defended the Department of Cinnamon Development against calls for abolition, saying it should be strengthened to promote Sri Lankan cinnamon internationally through short- and long-term programmes. Appropriation Bill 2025: Committee Stage - Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure (Heads 135, 293, 337) Read →
- 14 March 2025 The Hon. Nishantha Perera JJB AI summary Hon. Nishantha Perera spoke during the debate on the Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure’s Head of Expenditure, emphasizing that national prosperity depends on addressing issues in the plantation sector, including tea, cinnamon, coconut and other crops. He noted the sector’s importance as a major foreign-exchange earner and responded to Opposition criticisms of current crises by implying that they also bear responsibility for those longstanding challenges. Appropriation Bill 2025: Committee Stage - Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure (Heads 135, 293, 337) Read →
- 14 March 2025 The Hon. K. Kader Masthan SLLP AI summary Hon. K. Kader Masthan supported expanded plantation development in the North, including the planned 16,000 acres of coconut cultivation, and urged comparable programmes for palmyrah, rubber, oil crops such as mustard and sunflower, and spices through land release and value addition. He called for lands gazetted as forest after 1985 but not dense forest to be made available for cultivation, particularly to experienced displaced upcountry families now living in Northern districts. He also urged action on tabled reports concerning missing persons, the Trincomalee campus issue and the Mylanthanai killings, including accountability for those responsible. Additionally, he requested urgent rehabilitation and reopening of the Puttalam–Mannar–Marichchukkaddi–Jaffna road to shorten travel and support resettlement. Appropriation Bill 2025: Committee Stage - Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure (Heads 135, 293, 337) Read →
- 14 March 2025 The Hon. (Dr.) Nandana Millagala JJB AI summary Hon. (Dr.) Nandana Millagala supported the Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure expenditure, arguing that plantation policy must address the human and social conditions of estate communities, not only economic production. Citing hardships in estate line rooms, including youth vulnerability, family breakdown, drugs, and educational difficulties, he referred to allocations for estate housing and related infrastructure. He highlighted specific Budget provisions for child development centres, line-room roof repairs, sanitation, and estate road development as measures intended to improve living conditions and promote equal citizenship. Appropriation Bill 2025: Committee Stage - Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure (Heads 135, 293, 337) Read →
- 14 March 2025 The Hon. Mohamed Sali Naleem AI summary Hon. Mohamed Sali Naleem urged Government action to revive cashew cultivation in Eravur, including inputs, saplings, funding and relief for small traders affected by import arrangements, noting Sri Lanka’s production shortfall against national demand. He called for the stalled Mundeni Aru River Basin Development Project to be urgently resumed to reduce flooding in Batticaloa, expand cultivation, improve water supply and fisheries, and support paddy production. He also raised local infrastructure, health, land, boundary, electricity and water issues in Eravur and surrounding areas, including hospital services and road repairs. He concluded by announcing that he would resign from his National List seat and contest the forthcoming Eravur Urban Council election under his party. Appropriation Bill 2025: Committee Stage - Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure (Heads 135, 293, 337) Read →
- 14 March 2025 The Hon. Jagath Vithana SJB AI summary Hon. Jagath Vithana urged the Government not to permit any expansion of oil palm beyond the already completed 2,000 hectares, citing environmental concerns, worker safety issues, alleged violation of a banning circular, and legal cases he faces after opposing plantation expansion in Kalutara. He raised concerns about substandard tea plants being sold to small growers and asked why funds from the Tea Promotion Levy could not be used to support proper planting material and assist factory owners. He tabled photographs and documents relating to tea and rubber factories in Kalutara District destroyed during the conflict period, asking that they be assessed, repaired, and used for development with investors. He also criticized past distribution of LRC lands to businessmen and called for state land to be allocated in smaller plots to ordinary people for productive use. Appropriation Bill 2025: Committee Stage - Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure (Heads 135, 293, 337) Read →
- 14 March 2025 The Hon. Lal Premanath JJB AI summary Hon. Lal Premanath said the Budget was prepared cautiously in the context of the country’s severe economic crisis and covers only an eight-month period. He acknowledged it would not meet all expectations in the tea sector, but argued that the Government had taken a positive step for plantations and called on the public, tea sector stakeholders, and Opposition Members to support it. Appropriation Bill 2025: Committee Stage - Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure (Heads 135, 293, 337) Read →
- 14 March 2025 The Hon. Lal Premanath JJB AI summary Hon. Lal Premanath argued that the Budget’s allocations for the Ministry of Plantations and Community Infrastructure address long-standing problems in the tea sector, particularly affecting tea-producing districts such as Matara, Galle and Ratnapura and the large estate-worker population. He identified labour shortages, high production costs, poor-quality fertilizer, the impact of the previous organic fertilizer policy, climate-related risks, weak use of contingency funds, and inadequate support from institutions such as the Tea Board as key challenges. He said the Budget provides for research, factory modernization, replanting and infilling, and improved support across the production-to-export chain, while also emphasizing the need to protect and modernize the “Ceylon Tea” brand in global markets. Appropriation Bill 2025: Committee Stage - Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure (Heads 135, 293, 337) Read →
- 14 March 2025 The Hon. K. Sujith Sanjaya Perera SJB AI summary Hon. K. Sujith Sanjaya Perera urged the Minister to support smallholder tea growers by reducing VAT on pesticides and weedicides and increasing the replanting subsidy, warning that current costs and weak incentives could reduce future tea export earnings. He questioned the decision to move the New Kegalle Smallholder Tea Development Authority office from Dehiovita back to Kegalle after significant expenditure, citing reduced access for over 25,000 growers in nearby areas. He also requested continuation of the SVAT mechanism for exporters, arguing that replacing it with cash VAT would create refund delays and working capital constraints. He further called for an inquiry and settlement for smallholders affected by the collapse of the Tea Shakthi Fund, and briefly raised concerns regarding the cinnamon industry. Appropriation Bill 2025: Committee Stage - Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure (Heads 135, 293, 337) Read →
- 14 March 2025 The Hon. K. Sujith Sanjaya Perera SJB AI summary Asked the Minister whether the proposed fertilizer subsidy would also extend to private fertilizer companies. He argued that relying only on fertilizer produced by Lak Pohora Company and the Commercial Fertilizer Company would be insufficient to meet the needs of smallholder tea growers. Appropriation Bill 2025: Committee Stage - Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure (Heads 135, 293, 337) Read →
- 14 March 2025 Hon. K.V. Samantha Viddyarathna – Minister of Plantation and Community Infrastructure AI summary The Minister stated that the issue of fertilizer assistance had already been clarified earlier in the sitting, including by the Chairman. He reiterated that fertilizer assistance is being provided, in response to a query or concern raised by a Member. Appropriation Bill 2025: Committee Stage - Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure (Heads 135, 293, 337) Read →
- 14 March 2025 The Hon. K. Sujith Sanjaya Perera SJB AI summary Hon. K. Sujith Sanjaya Perera raised concerns about the financial distress of smallholder tea producers, who he said account for about 75 percent of tea exports and receive only around Rs. 150 per kilogram of green leaf. He argued that yields and incomes have not recovered from the previous fertilizer ban, and that current fertilizer assistance is insufficient and inconsistently available. He proposed extending part of the fertilizer subsidy to private fertilizer companies so they can supply smallholders at concessionary prices, given the limited capacity of state-linked suppliers. Appropriation Bill 2025: Committee Stage - Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure (Heads 135, 293, 337) Read →
- 14 March 2025 The Hon. W.H.M. Dharmasena SJB AI summary Hon. W.H.M. Dharmasena highlighted the economic importance of plantation crops and urged continued support for rubber cultivation in Monaragala, including action on yellowing disease. He called for a compensation mechanism for coconut growers affected by porcupines and wild elephants. He also raised concerns about the sugar industry, particularly Pelwatte and Sevanagala, seeking better market conditions, stable prices for sugar and spirits, restoration of employee benefits and wages, retention of long-serving temporary workers, and ministerial attention to the financial and administrative difficulties facing these institutions. Appropriation Bill 2025: Committee Stage - Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure (Heads 135, 293, 337) Read →
- 14 March 2025 The Hon. (Dr.) V.S. Radhakrishnan SJB AI summary Hon. (Dr.) V.S. Radhakrishnan thanked the Minister’s commitment to provide ten-perch land plots and individual houses for estate workers, and urged equal attention to tea and rubber alongside coconut. He argued that plantation estates must be protected with workers’ welfare central to policy, called for clearer lease conditions or cancellations where companies fail to invest, and cited issues including blocked estate roads, barriers to electricity connections, and non-payment of the Rs. 1,700 basic wage. He also requested expanded housing for workers, staff and teachers, action on malnutrition and child health, and reopening closed factories to generate local employment. He supported recognition of “Malaiyaha people,” noted the dominance of smallholders in tea production, and urged mechanisms to better support them while addressing the gap between public investment in estate infrastructure and company responsibilities. Appropriation Bill 2025: Committee Stage - Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure (Heads 135, 293, 337) Read →
- 14 March 2025 The Hon. Ajith Agalakada JJB AI summary Hon. Ajith Agalakada highlighted the plantation sector’s importance for foreign exchange earnings and Sri Lanka’s international reputation through products such as Ceylon Tea and Ceylon Cinnamon, while arguing that weak planning and mismanagement had contributed to decline. Focusing on Monaragala District, he cited rubber and cinnamon cultivation figures and national targets for rubber production, yields, and export earnings under the Ministry of Plantations and Community Infrastructure budget. He proposed a government-led project to cultivate 250–300 hectares of new rubber in Monaragala, expand nurseries at Padiyathalawa and Kumbukkan Oya to address plant shortages, and use capital allocations to strengthen local plantation infrastructure. Appropriation Bill 2025: Committee Stage - Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure (Heads 135, 293, 337) Read →