Cabinet to source organic fertilizer from local & international suppliers

COLOMBO (News 1st); Sri Lanka's Cabinet of Ministers has approved to source carbonic fertilizer for the Maha Season from local & international suppliers.

On the 27th of April, the Cabinet of Ministers approved to ban all chemical fertilizers & pesticides to promote the use of carbonic fertilizer.

However, at present, there are only 27 local organic fertilizer manufacturers licensed by the National Fertilizer Secretariat Office, and considering the production capacity of ten of them, the subject Minister had informed the Cabinet that it is possible to supply carbonic fertilizer locally for 224,000 hectares for the 2021/2022 Maha Season and to manufacture the required carbonic fertilizer for another 100,000 hectares subsequently to make available of the required facilities for the identified farmers

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Minister decided to import required carbonic fertilizer and natural mineral through the government-owned fertilizer company for 500,000 hectares of paddy cultivation on 2021/2022 Maha Season with accordance to the international competitive bidding method and distributing them through the Department of Agrarian Services.

The Cabinet of Ministers also decided to import the carbonic fertilizer through the licensed companies that have permission to import fertilizer for 600,000 hectares of the other crops adhering to the recommendations of the research institutions of the relevant crops.

Further, the Cabinet of Minister decided to import identified specific fertilizers for non-foodie charming plants, cut flower cultivations, and non-soil cultivation through the Import License Method adhering to the recommendations of the research institutes of the relevant crops.

When a journalist questioned Government Spokesperson Minister Keheliya Rambukwella on allegations that the government is attempting to import China's urban waste as organic fertilizer, the Minister responded stating that he has no time to respond to gossip.

He termed these allegations as pure gossip and baseless.