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Pressure on chemical fertiliser ban from within Government

12 Oct 2021

  • Dayasiri urges Prez to reverse chemical fertiliser ban
  • SLPP backbenchers seek meeting with Prez on fertiliser
BY Buddhika Samaraweera Pressure is growing on the current chemical fertiliser ban from within the Government, with a prominent State Minister urging the President to scrap the ban, while a group of about 40 ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) backbench parliamentarians has requested an opportunity to meet with the President to discuss the fertiliser issue. Batik, Handloom, and Local Apparel Products State Minister and the Government’s coalition partner, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party’s (SLFP) General Secretary Dayasiri Jayasekara yesterday (12) requested President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to rescind the decision taken to ban the import of chemical fertilisers, claiming that it is not practical to adapt to the use of organic fertiliser within one season. Speaking to the media yesterday, Jayasekara said that the process of applying organic fertiliser should be implemented within a period of at least six years. Accusing certain experts of having given the wrong advice that it could be done within one season, Jayasekara claimed that those experts are now nowhere to be found. “We urge the President to reverse this decision and move forward with this programme within at least six years. We don’t believe that it can be done within one season. About 96,000 tonnes of organic fertiliser had been ordered recently and it was said that about 20,000 tonnes of it is on the way, but we don’t know when that stock will arrive. On the other hand, in case of any issue with these fertilisers, we will not be able to use them. For instance, when it was said that organic fertiliser from a Chinese company could not be used, China is asking why we cannot use their fertiliser,” he added. Claiming that at present, farmers in the Ampara District need about 8,000 tonnes of fertiliser and those in the Kurunegala District need about 10,000 tonnes, Jayasekara said that by now, all of them have been unable to find fertiliser. Speaking further, he said: “I therefore urge the President to understand all these factors and re-establish the use of chemical fertilisers. At least, there should be a programme to use 50% of chemical fertiliser and 50% of organic fertiliser. Otherwise, the yield will definitely decrease in the future.” He also claimed that the average area with paddy cultivation in the country is about eight hectares, but that by now, that area has been reduced to about six-and-a-half hectares. He added that this situation could become another serious crisis due to the shortage of fertiliser. Meanwhile, a group of about 40 backbench MPs, representing the ruling SLPP, yesterday requested an opportunity to meet with the President to discuss the programme to supply fertiliser to farmers. Commenting on this to the media, SLPP MP Tissa Kuttiarachchi said: “We are not against organic fertiliser at all, but, be it chemical fertiliser or organic fertiliser, we hope to have a direct discussion with the President on what is the programme to provide fertiliser to farmers at the village level. Therefore, about 40 MPs have written to the President asking for an opportunity to meet him and we hope that we would be given a meeting in two or three days.” He added that the possible organic substitutes for the types of chemical fertilisers previously used would also be discussed at this meeting as well as the timeline that should be provided to farmers to adapt to the shift. Meanwhile, the Government announced yesterday that the distribution of organic fertiliser would commence from today (13) onwards through the agrarian service centres. A proposal to ban the use and importation of chemical fertiliser and agrochemicals such as pesticides and herbicides/weedicides was submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers by President Rajapaksa and the same was granted approval, following which the relevant gazette notification was issued in May 2021. It was later reported that the Promoting the Production and Regulating the Supply of Organic fertiliser, and Paddy and Grains, Organic Foods, Vegetables, Fruits, Chillies, Onion, and Potato Cultivation Promoting, Seed Production, and Advanced Technology Agriculture State Ministry has instructed two state-owned companies to purchase and distribute organic fertiliser produced locally by various companies. Speaking to The Morning on an earlier occasion, Promoting the Production and Regulating the Supply of Organic fertiliser, and Paddy and Grains, Organic Foods, Vegetables, Fruits, Chillies, Onion, and Potato Cultivation Promoting, Seed Production, and Advanced Technology Agriculture State Ministry Secretary Nihal Ranasinghe said that Colombo Commercial Fertilisers Ltd. and Ceylon Fertiliser Company Ltd. have been instructed to purchase the organic fertiliser produced by local companies and to distribute them. “Local companies are currently manufacturing organic fertiliser according to their capacity. Therefore, we have instructed the two said companies to purchase them following the relevant procurement processes and to distribute them among the farmers through the Agrarian Development Department,” he added. When questioned as to whether the stocks of organic fertiliser manufactured locally would be sufficient to fulfil the fertiliser requirement of the country, Ranasinghe said that if the locally produced organic fertiliser is not sufficient, action would be taken to import organic fertiliser and that several identified organic fertiliser-related products have, by the end of August, been ordered. However, throughout the past few days, farmers in several areas were seen claiming that there is a serious shortage of fertiliser for their cultivations over the past few months. A number of protests have also been organised by farmers’ organisations and various parties demanding that the Government provide a solution to the fertiliser shortage. Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage and Agriculture Ministry Secretary Prof. Udith K. Jayasinghe-Mudalige were not available for comment.

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