Agriculture: Key NPP manifesto promises

Abstract

The NPP Presidential Election manifesto for 2024 outlines several new promises to address the existing challenges in the agricultural sector, including low production efficiency, high costs, and the decline of key export crops. It emphasizes the adoption of modern technologies, improved policy frameworks, and increased support for farmers to enhance productivity and reduce dependency on imports.

Many of these agricultural promises require funding through the national budget to be effectively implemented.

Here is the full list of such agriculture related promises,

- Establishing storage, cold storage, and processing units for agricultural products. - A systematic agricultural insurance system for farmers. - Restarting the Kantale sugar factory - Financial support to establish 50,000 agricultural entrepreneurs. - Financial facilities to encourage the use of rain guards for rubber plantations and to identify rubber lands not currently used for tapping and redirect them for rubber tapping. - Providing loan schemes up to Rs. 1 million per hectare for cultivating high- yielding semi perennial or perennial crops with micro-irrigation. - Providing performance-based incentives for agricultural extension officers. - Establishing 7,500 dairy farms to empower low-income women. - Establishing 7,500 dairy farms to strengthen youth entrepreneurship. - Providing health insurance coverage for registered dairy cattle. - Providing tax relief for livestock and other raw materials to ensure fair egg and poultry meat prices. - Establishing 5,000 small-scale poultry farms - A fund to promote the development of research on fishing and market activities. - Provide a fuel subsidy to the fishing community to uplift the collapsed fisheries by reducing the production cost. - Set up regional collection centers to promote exports. - Introduce an insurance scheme for the fishing community. - Re-activate the Fisherfolk pension scheme. - Provide tax relief for imported tools until sufficient domestic production is developed.