Price of fertilizer used in tea cultivation reduced by Rs. 2000

By Ifham Nizam

The Ministry of Agriculture and Plantation Industries yesterday reduced the price of all T 750, T 709 and Tr 200 fertilizers used in tea cultivation by Rs. 2000.

Ministry sources said that the special fertilizers for tea cultivation produced by government-owned fertilizer companies are of the highest quality. In addition to this Rs. 2000 fertilizer concession, the total amount spent on fertilizer will be Rs.1200 million and that amount is to be borne by the Tea Board.

Accordingly, the price of tea fertilizer available in the market is going to be reduced by 50 percent. Currently, the price of a pack of the above-mentioned fertilizers in the market has exceeded Rs. 13,000.

Minister of Agriculture and Plantation Industries Mahinda Amaraweera instructed Dr. Jagath Perera, the chairman of the government-owned Colombo Commercial Fertilizer Company and Ceylon Fertilizer Company, to take steps to reduce the price of a bundle of T 750 and T 709 tea fertilizers to Rs. 7735 and the price of a bundle of T 200 fertilizer to Rs. 5500.

The minister said that this fertilizer concession will be given to all small and medium scale tea growers and it was also decided to provide all the above types of fertilizers to large scale tea growing companies at an amount of Rs. 9735.

Yesterday, at the Ministry of Plantation Industries, a discussion was held with the representatives of the Tea Growers’ Associations covering the eight tea-growing districts, and all officials dealing with tea cultivation at the Ministry of Plantation Industries too participated in the talks.

Amaraweera said that the above concession is being given to make the application of fertilizer mandatory for tea cultivation in our country for the betterment of the tea industry.