Cabinet approval sought to remove Glyphosate ban
Pro p o s a l s s u b m i t t e d by t he Agricultural Ministry and the Plantations Industries Ministry for the re- introduction of glyphosate on the plantations will be taken up next week by the cabinet, Plantations Minister Navin Dissanayake told reporters this week.
He noted that the ban on glyphosate would be lifted following a decision taken by the National Economic Council headed by President Maithripala Sirisena after the recent local government polls.
Two cabinet papers had been submitted in this regard and it is expected to be taken up next Tuesday at the Cabinet meeting, he said.
The minister has been campaigning for the re- introduction of glyphosate to be used on the tea estates alone as it had a negative impact on the industry threatening even losing its traditional markets due to low yields and experimenting with unknown substances to kill weeds.
He noted that the industry has faced a crop loss of about Rs. 20- 30 million kg due to the ban on glyphosate application on the tea estates and approximately Rs.16 billion loss in value terms.
The minister made these observations at the briefing held at the Sri Lanka Tea Board to announce the assumption of duties of Lucille Wijewardena as the establishment’s new Chairman after Dr. Rohan Pethiyagoda stepped down last month.
Mr. Wijewardena has been in the plantations industry and is an accountant by profession with interests in other areas like hospitality, stockbroking and finance.
The tea industry is planning on achieving 320 million kg in production this year and a revenue of US$.1.6 billion.
Minister Dissanayake pointed out that they were also looking at ensuring the industry sustains a 2 per cent replanting level and the modernising of the factories into eco friendly systems.
Meanwhile, the authorities are also tipped to take stern action against 53 of the 700 tea factories that have been involved in introducing sugar to teas.
Though no closures of these factories are expected since it could have a direct impact on the livelihoods of workers, the minister said that they would be holding discussions with these managements next week in a bid to work out a solution and ensure they do not add external substances to the production of tea.
Authorities have now found a mechanism to detect the presence of sugar in the teas and as a result were able to detect the presence of these substances and rein in the culprits.
In the meantime, the draft report on restructuring of the tea plantations as proposed by the World Bank according to a study carried out by them would be forwarded to Minister Dissanayake on March 24. (SD)