The Ministry of Plantations and Community Infrastructure announced that the implementation of the QR-based tea fertilizer distribution system, introduced to address challenges in providing fertilizer subsidies to tea farmers, has recorded significant progress.

Aimed at achieving the national target of increasing Sri Lanka’s annual tea production to 400 million kilograms and tea export revenue to USD 2.5 billion by 2030, the islandwide distribution of fertilizer under the new QR system commenced on October 1. This initiative has helped resolve longstanding issues associated with the previous fertilizer subsidy mechanism.

Introduced in September, the new QR system was designed to overcome problems such as the exclusive distribution of fertilizer through the Fertilizer Corporation and the allocation of quantities solely based on land extent. 

Under the revised method, the fertilizer subsidy is distributed through fertilizer companies approved by the Fertilizer Secretariat, while the subsidy amount is determined according to the average value of tea leaf yield over a three-month period.

Accordingly, the government currently provides Rs. 4,000 for a 50 kg bundle of fertilizer and Rs. 2,000 for a 25 kg bundle to small- and medium-scale tea estate owners.

As of October 31, the ministry reported receiving 95,230 applications through the new system, with 67,056 applicants already registered. 

Furthermore, a total of 187.4 metric tons of subsidized tea fertilizer have been distributed to 49,548 farmers using QR codes—reflecting a progress rate of 49.33%, the Ministry added.