EU-FAO to provide fertilisers, seeds, training to Sri Lanka’s most vulnerable paddy farmers

The European Union (EU) has allocated four million euros (approximately Rs.1.5 billion) in grants for fertilisers, seeds and training to the most vulnerable farmers, as a response to the agriculture and food security crisis in Sri Lanka.

These funds will be implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in Sri Lanka. The action has been officially launched yesterday in Colombo.

The recent economic crisis severely impacted all farmers in the country, especially smallholder farmers cultivating lands of up to 0.5 ha. These farmers have suffered immensely due to a major crop failure over the previous two harvesting seasons, due to a lack of fertilisers and other inputs. This has led to reduced income and impacted their ability to provide for their essential needs, including food.

EU Ambassador Denis Chaibi said, “I am very pleased to announce this new action today. We teamed up with the FAO to help bring Sri Lankan agriculture back on track to prevent food shortages and to increase farmer’s incomes. Together we will provide highly essential inputs such as fertilisers and seeds. We will also train farmers and extension officers on how to shift to less resource-intensive paddy cultivation practices. I hope this new support will contribute towards an organised transition to a more sustainable, resilient and productive agriculture sector in Sri Lanka.”

“We are appreciative of this generous assistance from the EU, which will not only provide essential inputs to boost production but also reduce the agriculture sector’s reliance on chemical fertiliser by increasing the efficiency of the fertiliser used while increasing yield,” said FAO Representative in Sri Lanka Vimlendra Sharan.

“As the FAO, we will work closely with the Agriculture Ministry and Irrigation Ministry to ensure the success of this project, which will make a strong case for adopting sustainable practice across the country.”

The project will support 41,000 smallholder farmers cultivating land holdings of up to 0.5 ha in the districts of Polonnaruwa, Badulla, Ampara and Hambantota. They will each receive a 50 kg bag of urea for the 2023 Yala cropping season. In addition to that, targeted capacity building will be provided to those farmers as well as extension workers on how to use fertiliser efficiently, reduce actual needs for chemical fertiliser, enhance the use of organic fertiliser and improve long-term soil fertility. To strengthen the seed paddy production system in Sri Lanka to meet current demand, the project will also support farmers to grow quality paddy seeds and strengthen government-owned farms in growing and processing certified paddy seeds.