Minister Sirisena said that he had received subsidised fertiliser as he was registered as a farmer.

He was responding to a query by The Island at yesterday’s media conference at the Mahaweli Centre, to discuss their efforts to boost the agriculture sector.

Minister Sisisena said that he did not own hotels or rice mills. "I do not have any other income," he said, adding that he cultivated five acres of land, which he had inherited from his father.

Chief Minister of the North Western Province, Atula Wijesinghe, said he, too, benefited from the fertiliser subsidy.

The government had spent Rs. 65 billion in two years to provide the fertiliser subsidy, Minister Sirisena said.

Asked why the government could not ensure an uninterrupted supply of rice to the market at an affordable price, Minister Sirisena said that the Yala season had failed owing to drought, though he did not anticipate trouble in the near future. He said rice producers tended to retain their stocks as long as possible to make an additional profit. He said the government could not force producers to sell their produce at lower rates, though they received subsidised fertiliser.

Sri Lankans did not like imported rice, said the Minister. Contrary to reports, there was no demand for imported varieties of rice, he said.

Minister Sirisena emphasised that the government had to look after the interests of both the farmer and the consumer, whereas Opposition politicians could say anything just to gain political mileage. He criticised successive UNP and SLFP-led governments for neglecting the agriculture sector before President Rajapaksa took up the reins of government.

According to him, the primary aim of the accelerated Mahaweli development project was to generate electricity.

He said that UNPLeader Ranil Wickremesinghe’s utterances had caused irreparable damage to his party. Nothing could be more ludicrous than Wickremesinghe’s claim that the country had achieved self sufficiency in rice during his premiership, the Minister said.

Minister Sirisena said that no one could deny the UPFA the credit for sharply reducing the consumption of flour by 2008. He said that at the time the UPFA took over, Sri Lankans consumed 900,000 metric tons of flour, but today it had come down to 400,000 metric tons.(Island)