COLOMBO — Sri Lanka on Tuesday backed down from
ambitious plans to become the world's first completely organic farming nation,
reversing a ban on imports of chemical fertilizer.
اضافة اعلان
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had imposed a total ban on agrochemicals in
May, saying he wanted to make Sri Lankan farming 100 percent organic.
Plantations Minister Ramesh Pathirana said Tuesday that the change of course
was to help growers of Ceylon tea, exports of which are worth $1.3 billion
annually for the island nation.
"Considering the fact that there has been a quality drop in tea that
was produced in factories, the government has taken the decision to import
sulphate of ammonia," Pathirana told reporters in Colombo.
He said imports of chemical fertilizer would continue until the island was
able to produce enough organic fertilizer for local agricultural needs.
Rajapaksa's policy had sparked anger among tea plantation owners and other
farmers who warned that a lack of organic fertilizer and lower yields would
lead to shortages.
This risked compounding problems for a government already facing an
unprecedented shortage of foreign exchange to import fuel, food, and medicines.
Last week, the government breached its own ban by importing from Lithuania
30,000 tonnes of potassium chloride but called it "organic fertilizer".
"We are not a stubborn government," government spokesman Dullas
Alahapperuma told reporters at the same briefing with Pathirana.
"We are sensitive to the needs of the people."
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