The government has completed its nationwide financial assistance programme for the agricultural sector, distributing a final tranche of funds to 374 regional rice cultivators. The regional rollout dispersed more than $113 million in cash grants, closing out a scheme that officials say was designed to shield farmers from the effects of falling international paddy prices.

Officials said the injection of capital was intended to help farmers absorb losses caused by the slump in paddy pricing and to ensure they had sufficient funds to begin their next planting cycle without resorting to costly borrowing. Agricultural economists have long warned that price shocks in the paddy market can leave smallholders unable to finance basic inputs such as seed and fertiliser in time for the following season.

The payment structure was tiered according to land size. Farmers cultivating 50 acres or less received $15,000 per acre, while those working larger plots were allotted $10,000 per acre. The differentiated rate was designed to provide proportionally greater support to smaller operations, which typically have less capacity to absorb price volatility than larger commercial farms.

Taken as a whole, the national programme reached more than 5,100 farmers across 234,000 acres, amounting to a substantial multi-million-dollar outlay from the treasury. The regional payout marks the final stage of that broader effort, which has been rolled out in phases over recent months.

The disbursements fulfil commitments made by the head of state during consultations with sector representatives earlier in the year, when concerns were raised about the squeeze on farm incomes. At the time, officials pledged direct financial support to cushion the impact of falling prices, and the completed programme represents the delivery of that pledge.

The cash grants form part of a wider set of measures aimed at stabilising the agricultural sector. These include existing tax relief on fuel used in farming operations and continued access to subsidised fertiliser, both of which officials say remain in place alongside the concluded grant scheme. Taken together, the measures are intended to reduce the cost burden on farmers at a time when global commodity markets remain unsettled.

Looking ahead, the agriculture minister has urged recipients to direct the funds strictly towards operational needs, including the purchase of seed, fertiliser and equipment for the coming season, rather than other forms of expenditure. Officials have stressed that the grants are intended as working capital rather than general income support.

The ministry has also used the conclusion of the programme to renew its call for farmers to adopt integrated farming models, arguing that reliance on a single crop leaves cultivators exposed to the kind of price volatility that prompted the subsidy in the first place. Officials pointed to the recent downturn in paddy prices as evidence of the risks inherent in monoculture farming, particularly for smallholders with limited financial buffers.

Specific alternatives put forward by officials include setting aside one to two acres of farmland for aquaculture or for shade-house cultivation of high-yield crops. Such small-scale diversification, the ministry argues, could give farmers a secondary source of income that is less exposed to the swings of the international rice market, without requiring them to abandon rice cultivation altogether.

Whether farmers take up that advice remains to be seen. Diversification schemes have been proposed in the past with mixed results, and much will depend on the availability of technical support and start-up capital for smallholders considering a shift into aquaculture or shade-house farming. For now, the government has framed the conclusion of the grant programme as a step towards short-term relief, with the longer-term question of structural resilience in the sector left for future policy to address.

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