President Ali -President Ali Govt engaging bilateral partner to reduce fertiliser costs

President Irfaan Ali, on Friday informed rice farmers of Region Two of the government’s
bilateral engagement to see a reduction in the cost of fertilisers.
Ali made the disclosure during a meeting with the farmers at the region’s Rice Development
Board. President Ali’s announcement comes on the heels of increased prices for fertilisers which
are vital to farmers. Ali said the increased cost is due to the increase in price for natural gas,
which is used to produce the fertiliser. “I can tell you for fertilisers, we are almost there in
getting an agreement that will bring down the price with a bilateral partner. I cannot say much
more right now, because we are in our final stages of negotiations,” he said. He continued,
“When the gas to shore project comes, it is going to give us the ability to produce our own
fertiliser. Every country that produces its own fertiliser, subsidises the agricultural sector with
fertiliser. In five years’ time we will have that ability, but in the meantime, we are trying to work
with a bilateral partner.”

The President stressed that he has made direct contact with the President of Panama to assist
farmers who are owed monies for rice shipment under the previous administration. “We are
working on a number of measures to further support the rice industry. We are discussing whether
we can have a further cut on tax for diesel,” Ali said. He noted that already for the year,
government has reduced tax on gasoline and diesel twice. That is in February and October, 2021.
Added to that, the President disclosed that government is discussing a mechanism in which more
excavators could be made available to help farmers with drainage, which will reduce production
cost for farmers.
Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, said since the last ministerial visit, a lot has happened
in the agricultural sector. He said with the crafting of the next national budget, the region can
expect more excavators to assist with their agricultural needs. He said that 800 bags of paddy
were given to farmers who had low yield even before the massive May/June flood. Additionally,
the agriculture minister highlighted that government is developing better quality rice to boost
production. He mentioned the bio-fortified rice which contains zinc, noting that trials are in the
final stages with the expectation to start distribution to farmers next year. “There will be a lot of
development in this sector…. We must ensure when we produce crops, we produce high value
crops,” Mustapha said.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh said no other government has been more serious
about promoting agriculture than the PPP/C Administration. He told farmers if they are to have a
serious conversation, they have to be honest with the reality of the world economy and the state
in which government inherited the agricultural sector. He said since taking office, the
government has spared no effort to assist farmers which could be seen in the removal of
burdensome taxes on agricultural equipment, among other initiatives. “You have a government
that is committed to bringing relief to you whenever we can,” Minister Singh assured farmers.
Shafeek Mohamed, a rice farmer, said the move by the President is a good initiative that shows
the government is concerned about farmers. “It is a good call by the government to try and assist
the farmers where they can get the fertiliser cheaper because I know for a fact the price for
fertilisers has gone up on the world market and shipping has gone up tremendously… if we do

not get the yield, we are in trouble this crop with fertiliser gone up by almost 100 per cent. So, it
is a good initiative by the government to intervene with the fertiliser situation,” he said.
Ghodeswar Hemraj who also welcomed the move. He said he cultivates 16 acres of land.  “That
was a very good effort, we just have to see what will be the next step. We already sow, so we are
looking forward to see if the fertiliser price will go down.”
The visit by President Ali, marks his fourth trip to the region since taking office, where he
engaged residents to have issues affecting them addressed.