Government urged to rethink shift to organic fertiliser

There are growing calls from Sri Lanka’s scientific community for the government to reverse its ban on the use of chemical fertiliser saying the lack of proper planning and failure to provide for a phased withdrawal from present farming practices will result in a severe shortage of agriculture produce.

This food shortage and loss of income avenues of farmers will trigger a people (including farmer community) uprising with countrywide protests of farmers, fertiliser technology researchers, agriculture experts and civil society activists complained.

Sri Lanka is likely to lose 25 percent of foreign exchange earnings from the export of agricultural produce and this will rise to unbearable proportions if the government had to import consumer food commodities, several economic experts predicted.

The other dangerous aspect is that multinational companies along with their local counterparts will grab fertile lands in the country with the encouragement and incentives including tax holidays provided by the government when agriculture is neglected and abandoned by local farmers they said adding that this practice has already commenced in several areas in the island.

According to the President’s politicaal manifesto titled “Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour, his aim is “building up a community of citizens who are healthy and productive, (and) we need to develop the habit of consuming food with no contamination with harmful chemicals”.

These environmental considerations associated with the chemical fertiliser usage usually are not supported by scientific proof, soil scientist Prof. Saman Dharmakeer thi of Peradeniya University, Agriculture faculty revealed to the Business Times.

He said that the popular allegation of kidney ailment prevailing amongst farmers in the dry zone was due to consuming water contaminated by heavy metals in soil deposit due to application of synthetic (chemical) fertiliser was a false implication without scientific evidence.

The presence of these heavy metals cadmium and arsenic in Triple Tremendous Phosphate (TSP) imported into Sri Lanka is very minimal and negligible in cultivated land and it is not harmful to human beings.

According to research conducted for several years recently, the prevalence of heavy metals including cadmium chromium arsenic and lead in the soil of an acre cultivated with paddy is around138 grams whereas this rate in other countries including Netherlands is in the region of 1400 grams per acre, he said.

On the other hand there is no way to provide 18 important components required for optimum plant development, including nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium adequately within a short period by using even large quantities of organic fertiliser continuously, he pointed out.

Dr. Neelika Ranatunge of the Ruhuna University Agriculture faculty emphasised the need of introducing a national agriculture policy making it a law to carry out best agriculture practices with a proper scientific system and prescription of using a mix of chemical and organic fertiliser if it is necessary.

She noted that the current problem is not with the synthetic fertiliser but it is due to usage of excess agrochemicals including pesticides and the practice of spraying chemicals by farmers to increase the crop yield and traders to keep vegetables and fruits fresh for a long time.

As per the President’s manifesto, it is during the next 10 years of 2019 – 2029 that Sri Lankan agriculture will be promoted to use organic fertilisers.

This indicates that the present President or an individual of his party and the ruling party will have to continue (for several years) or make this clause in the manifesto a national policy, civil society activist Archt. Nalaka C. Jayaweera stated.

Mr. Jayaweera who served as a member of several presidential and state committees including the recent expert committee appointed to review the proposed Millennium Challenge Corporation Compact (MCC) called on the government authorities to divulge the National Policy that covers banning of chemical fertiliser.

Under this set up the government will have to renegotiate the “Positive Lists” of the Pakistan – Sri Lanka FTA and Singapore – Sri Lanka FTA as these countries have liberalised chemical fertiliser, insecticide and weedicide or put it under a “positive list”, he added.

There was no guarantee by the present government that importation is really banned in the absence of the relevant gazette notifications.

Unlike conventional fertilisers, organic manure can contain many unknown compounds which may accumulate in soil and plants and cause detrimental plant growth and human health issues.

Sri Lanka without answering the issue in agriculture keeps on developing reports with donors to the effect that the land utilisation is not the best in the agriculture sector and that thereby such lands should have bigger land parcels and be vested with multinational companies to increase the productivity, he said.