Fertiliser policy: U-turn to middle path

One of the things a Government and the Media have in common could well be their reluctance to readily admit a mistake. It involves the issue of credibility. And so, the Government would rather not say it made an utter hash of its policy to ban the import of chemical fertiliser -- overnight.

There is an old local idiom that it is okay to trip and fall down, but one must ensure that your pride is maintained by not allowing sand to rub into your moustache. The Agriculture Minister seems to be experiencing this right now with the U-turn on the ban, which the Government insists is not a U-turn.

Already ridiculed for publicly stating that he will not import "a grain of rice" only to import 100,000 metric tonnes of it as a rice shortage loomed in the face of the fertiliser ban, he appears to be qualifying for an honorary President's Counselship for defending a bad brief. Or has he begun believing his own lies? Either way, the more he talks, the more he contradicts himself. Having to be His Master's Voice is bad enough, he is in the enviable position of being the scapegoat for a policy gone terribly wrong.

At the beginning of the week, reality eventually dawned on the Government hierarchy that a reversal of its hara-kiri style approach was needed. Cabinet Ministers and Government Parliamentary Group members, especially those from the agricultural areas felt the heat from the farmers in their constituencies the most. In India, farmers had successfully carried out a protracted campaign against farm laws by the Government. The shadow of that battle was falling over Sri Lanka as well.

The President blamed the weather for crop failures. Public servants under a gag order from criticising Government policy on social media platforms were also blamed and told to leave their posts and get out of the way if they couldn't agree with Government policy.

Everyone, and everything, was to blame except the decision-making which was devoid of the views to the contrary from senior tea planters, seasoned peasant-farmers, soil scientists and agricultural experts.

The spectre of an impending food scarcity in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, shortages of gas, milk foods, petrol and foreign exchange would almost certainly have been the last straw for the Government. There was no 'Plan B' in place in the event the ban flopped. Social experimenting is a dangerous exercise when so many other irons are in the fire.

The Government taking a step back even at this late stage is creditable. Even in war, a strategic withdrawal is not a bad move if the ultimate objective is to win it. Any military strategist knows that. Revolutions are meant to upturn the entire status quo and usher in a new social order. But in this 'Green Revolution' that is envisaged, it should be a case of going back to the drawing board, meeting with the experts and the experienced, and planning how best to implement such a vision.

As a minister who supports the conversion to organic fertiliser but in a phased out fashion correctly pointed out, even the Buddha went in search of the Truth in one direction, found out it was not the way to salvation, conceded he went wrong, and came up with the 'Middle Path' doctrine.