A Presidential
Advisor on agriculture and a former MP and minister, who defected to the UPFA
from the UNP, and lost his seat at the last elections, Hemakumara Nanayakkara
resigned his post today in disgust at the Government Agricultural Policies or
lack of them. He is also the younger brother of Vasudeva Nanayakkara, an MP and leftist!
This blog is full
of the lack of it! And it does not surprise me that after his visits to the
farming communities all over the country, it is apparent what a pigs breakfast
this Govt. has made of agriculture. The agriculture ministers are confused as
to what their responsibilities are, the bureaucrats in the departments are
completely unhinged and the farmers left in the dark, as policies come and go
in a field that requires long term planning for effective productivity in the
least productive sector in our country.
I am sure that
once confronted with the farmers’ woes, of schizophrenic behavior on the part
of Govt. policies, he realized that he could only express his honest opinion,
by not being a yes man, but by being truthful and objective that there is NO
policy that is being implemented to benefit agriculture in Sri Lanka.
This lack of
knowledge of the subject and the pursuance of a policy aimed at hoodwinking the
farmers for votes to win elections, is grounds to be disgusted, as the Govt. takes
advantage of a very delicate community facing incredible odds to make a living.
It is time that he gives his frank opinion, rather than pussyfooting around, as
to the real reasons he is disgusted with the current state of play.
So how about a summary:
The quality of the fertilizer given to the farmers suck. The use of the fertilizer
is harmful. The planting material given is not up to an acceptable standard. The
weather forecasts were wrong and so the officials gave farmers the wrong information
with regard to planting, resulting in a colossal loss of inputs as the plants will
now die. The unannounced withdrawal of the subsidy for non paddy crops and the late
availability of fertilizer. The difference between the guaranteed price to the farmers
and the real price they receive. The lack of a market for the produce, and the bad
advice from the department on every aspect of agriculture. To name a few of the
topics to be covered.
5 comments:
should we blame the government for bad weather also???
Partly yes,
The thing is, the water management by the government has created this problem, not the drought.
Now that the tanks are dry, they should be digging them to increase their storage capacity.
But again, they are asleep at the wheel. There were massive rains and all the spill gates were open a year ago. If they had been managing the water and storage capacity properly we would not be in trouble right now.
Things are not as simple as made out. There are long term structural weaknesses in both storage and management of water, where the blame MUST lie in the Government as they have been in power long enough to make a difference.
The irony is that a government that came into power on the back of the rural farmer vote with the promise of the subsidy that the UNP was intent on cutting has actually made the lives of farmers worse.
If the UNP had their way there would have been no fertilizer subsidy and instead the money would have been spent within the country improving the storage capacity of the tanks.
All the main tanks have heavy silting with them holding about fifty percent less water. They should immediately dredge them now when there is a chance rather than wait till it is too late yet again.
I maintain that this work involves less bribery, so the ministers drunk on bribes cannot see personal benefits to them, and that is why the much needed desilting does not take place despite all the rhetoric you read in the newspapers.
Nice blog thanks for postiing
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