Switch to organic fertiliser: Paddy farmers to sue Govt. for crop failure
Cultivators warn of 50 percent reduction in yield, say rice prices may soar to around Rs. 300 a kilo by April
Govt.'s Rs. 25 stimulus raises PMB's 'conditional' buying price to Rs. 75, but private millers offer Rs. 95 for a kilo
Farmer associations have decided to sue the Government over severe crop losses and other damages arising from an “overnight” change to organic fertiliser.
Meanwhile, small and medium- scale rice mill owners have warned of a rice shortage by the end of next month as well as soaring prices of around Rs. 300 per kilogram during the Sinhala and Tamil New Year in April.
Cultivators remain concerned about unclear plans to repay them for crop losses and said this week that about 54 national farmer associations and those in the nine Mahaweli zones would file legal action against the Government.
The yield is likely to have dropped by about 50 percent--half the usual--this season, said Jagath Aruna Keerthi, President of the Parakaram Samudra Scheme Agrarian Organisation. He added that there was still no procedure or plan to make up for this.
“The Government at one point said it was paying compensation through the Agricultural Insurance Board,” he said. “However, the money in that insurance scheme is not enough. They now say that only farmers who had used all four types of organic fertilisers recommended by the Agriculture Ministry and whose yields had nevertheless dropped will be compensated.”
Despite official statements to the contrary, farmers and farmer associations also claimed most of them, had received only three types of organic fertilisers. For instance, Polonnaruwa cultivators have not been issued the nano-nitrogen liquid fertiliser imported from India, said Mr Aruna Keerthi.
There was concerned too about the stimulus package introduced by Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa with many growers insisting that an additional Rs. 25 for a kilo of paddy was not sufficient when compared with the investment they made for this season. Moreover, the harvest must be
handed over to the Paddy Marketing Board to claim that price -- the usual Rs. 50 plus the additional Rs. 25.
“In the current situation, one kilogram of Nadu rice has gone up to Rs. 90 in the market,” said Nihal Wanniarachchi, National United Farmers’ Association ( NUFA) Assistant Secretary. “So why do we give our stock of paddy to Government for a small amount? Our demand is for at least Rs. 120 a kilo.”
Farmers are not prepared to do another season in this manner as the expected yields were not received, the associations said.
“The cost is higher this season,” Mr Wanniarachchi asserted.
“Fertiliser was not received properly. The oil issue has also had a severe impact. We will move away from paddy cultivation in the forthcoming Yala season.”
While the Government insists it will buy a kilo of paddy for Rs.75, the private millers now buy a kilo at Rs. 95, said Muditha Perera, President of the United Rice Growers’ Association.
Organic fertiliser will not provide the sufficient nutrients for paddy cultivation, emphasised Buddhi Marambe, chairman of the Agriculture Ministry’s Policy Planning Committee, pointing to a severe food shortage expected in upcoming months.
“Ninety-eight percent of land is cultivated with high- yielding varieties and we need required nutrients to get enough harvest,” Prof Marambe explained. “In paddy cultivation, we can see a yield reduction of between 21 and 33 percent.”
Scientists tried to explain this to policymakers during the past eight months but went unheard. There could be a further reduction in yield if the growers could not control weeds and insects in the fields, he said.