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Soil composition-based fertiliser from ‘Yala’

07 Dec 2021

BY Buddhika Samaraweera The Agriculture Ministry has planned to commence a programme to provide fertilisers to farmers according to the soil composition of each area from the forthcoming Yala cultivating season, The Morning learnt. Speaking at a discussion held at the Agriculture Ministry on 6 December, Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage stated that from the forthcoming Yala cultivating season, a complete inspection of the soil in each province will be carried out and the application of chemical and organic fertilisers according to the soil composition will be commenced. He further said that the unnecessary importation of chemical fertilisers and the over application of fertilisers to crops by farmers could be prevented through a programme to provide fertilisers based on the composition of the soil. “Soil testing equipment has now been provided to 362 agrarian service centres islandwide. Another 200 such centres could be provided with soil testing equipment next year. Accordingly, the composition of the soil in all parts of the island can be ascertained. It will help determine the type and amount of fertilisers required for the soil in each area,” Aluthgamage said. Meanwhile, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Matale District Opposition Parliamentarian Rohini Kumari Wijerathna Kavirathna claimed that farmers in the Eastern Province are facing difficulties due to the lack of fertilisers and agrochemicals including pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides/weedicides, even though half of the Maha cultivating season has passed. “Aluthgamage said in Parliament that the chemical fertilisers and agrochemicals required by the farmers would be imported immediately. It has been more than three weeks now. Not a single agrochemical has yet been approved by the Office of the Registrar of Pesticides, and not even an Acting Registrar of Pesticides has been appointed,” she claimed. Aluthgamage, on 23 November, removed from office former Pesticides Registrar Dr. J.A. Sumith, who issued an Extraordinary Gazette Notification on 22 November lifting the ban on five types of agrochemicals including the herbicide glyphosate. She also said that farmers in the upcountry region have also been severely affected by the lack of fungicides and that more than 75% of the crops in Dambulla, Matale, Ududumbara, Hanguranketha, Walapane, and Nuwara Eliya have been affected by fungal diseases. A proposal to ban the use and importation of chemical fertilisers and agrochemicals was submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa last April and the same was granted approval, following which the relevant Gazette Notification was issued on 6 May 2021. However, the Government decided to revoke the Extraordinary Gazette No. 2226/48 of 6 May 2021, which banned the importation of chemical fertilisers and agrochemicals, and to thereby allow the private sector to import the same, with effect from 24 November 2021. Accordingly, an Extraordinary Gazette Notification was issued this week allowing the imports of organic and inorganic compounds, and phosphorous derivatives of fertilisers. However, this Gazette has banned the import of glyphosate.  


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