Sri Lanka suspends imports of Chinese Organic Fertilizer

COLOMBO (News 1st); Sri Lanka's Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage has announced the suspension of organic fertilizer imports from China.

According to the Agriculture Ministry, this decision was reached after laboratory tests revealed the presence of harmful bacteria in the organic fertilizer samples.

However, the government will ensure there is no shortage of fertilizer for the farmers, said the Ministry.

Harmful Bacteria was detected in a fresh sample of Chinese Organic Fertilizer, said the Director-General of Agriculture Dr. Ajantha De Silva on Tuesday (28).

He told News 1st that samples from a Chinese company tested by authorities once again proved the presence of bacteria and he maintains the position to NOT allow any organic fertilizer from the particular supplier to be imported to the country.

“We cannot confirm the presence of Erwinia, but we can confirm the presence of harmful bacteria in this new sample,” he added.

Dr. De Silva said the government will have to cancel the contract awarded to the Chinese company to supply organic fertilizer, and the Department of Agriculture will NEVER allow such organic fertilizer with harmful bacteria to enter the country.

This supplier was revealed as Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group Co., Ltd.

On the 17th of September Sri Lanka’s Minister of Agriculture confirmed today that a microorganism identified as ‘Erwinia’ was discovered in samples brought down ‘unofficially’ to Sri Lanka and tested.

The supplier was the same, Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group Co., Ltd.