India makes extra effort to avert Lanka farm crisis

New Delhi, June 2

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured fertiliser supplies will be delivered under a Line of Credit for the paddy sowing Yala season.

It was while speaking to a group of irrigation officials on the next harvesting season’s requirements on Wednesday that President Rajapaksa said PM Modi had assured the supply of 65,000 tonnes of urea and it would be distributed within 20 days of the consignment reaching Colombo, reported the Lanka media.

Colombo is attempting to ensure that the Yala season does not suffer the fate of the earlier Maha season when there was a 30 to 40 per cent drop in paddy cultivation. Yala season of paddy cultivation in Sri Lanka lasts between May and August. Simultaneously, Sri Lanka has reached an agreement with the World Bank for financial assistance to import chemical fertilisers.