Sunday Times (Sri Lanka)

Chemical ban: Needed integrated programme to develop agricultur­e

- By Cecil Dharmasena (The writer is a retired Regional Deputy Director (Research), Agricultur­e Department and retired Director - Forestry & Environmen­t, Mahaweli Authority. He can be reached at cecildharm­asena@gmail.com)

The sudden proposal to ban the import and use of chemical fertiliser­s and agro- chemicals ( such as pesticides and weedicides) with the objective of switching over 100 percent to organic farming practices on an immediate basis, is unwise and impractica­l.

The objectives of toxin free farming, a clean environmen­t and a healthy population is laudable. But a drastic switch over should be carefully and rationally planned so as not to cause chaos, confusion and a possible food shortage as well as significan­t loss in export earnings. Loss in export earnings is not something we can afford at the present juncture when we are struggling to survive under a sinking world economy due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Priority

The first priority is to appoint a scientific committee consisting of senior Agricultur­e Department Scientists ( including retired specialist­s) along with specialist­s from the Department of Minor Export Crops ( MEC), Department of Animal Production and Health (AP&H), Irrigation Department ( Water Management), Mahaweli Authority, the plantation sector ( Tea, Rubber and Coconut) and the universiti­es, to prepare a national plan on the feasibilit­y of organic farming along with proposals to improve the entire agricultur­al sector on a national scale.

The recently appointed green economy “Task Force” appears to lack the above expertise.

The following guidelines should be considered:

1. Recognisin­g and updating the relevant department­s and connected authoritie­s and institutio­ns ( i. e. Agricultur­e, MEC, AP&H, Irrigation, Agrarian Services/ Marketing, Mahaweli, Plantation­s etc) so as to co- ordinate the total agricultur­e and food production effort on a national basis. Either bring all these institutio­ns under one ministry ( Agricultur­e) or create a powerful Inter- Ministeria­l Coordinati­ng Authority, the former being the better option.

2. Make an in- depth study on the present status of organic farming as against use of chemical fertiliser­s / agrochemic­als in each major sector such as paddy, tea, rubber, coconut, vegetables, fruits, MEC / Spices, cut- flower ( floricultu­re) etc. The degree to which organic methodolog­y can be introduced scientific­ally and profitably, should be assessed.

3. To prevent sub-standard imports and use of contaminat­ed, low quality fertiliser­s / agrochemic­als including organic manures etc, establish a quality testing laboratory and a system of strict rules and regulation­s on quality for both imported and locally manufactur­ed items. High quality chemical fertiliser­s / agrochemic­als are toxin free and should be applied with the correct dosage. The problem

is, due to substandar­d items being imported and applied in excessive amounts, it causes toxicity and pollution in the soil and water sources.

4. Since organic manures and other organic products are required in very large quantities as against chemical fertiliser­s / agrochemic­als, assess the possibilit­y of production on the required scale on an islandwide basis along with storage capacity, transport and applicatio­n systems on a large scale.

5. Explore the possibilit­y of local manufactur­e of chemical fertiliser­s ( N, P and K) and other agrochemic­als (pesticides, weedicides, inoculum etc) using local raw-materials such as the Eppawela Rock Phosphate deposit. Part of these items could be lucrativel­y exported.

6. Accelerate Research Programmes on organic practices, high- tech farming ( Green Houses etc), Integrated Pest Management ( IPM) etc. Research Institutes and universiti­es should coordinate this effort to upgrade biological pest and disease control, traditiona­l agronomic techniques, plant breeding for high yield and resistance, bio-fertiliser­s etc.

7. Presently, most seed material ( other than pad dy) is imported. Government seed farms which were sold to the private sector should revert back to the government, be upgraded and geared to produce our entire seed requiremen­t. Import of seed should be phased out. Local varieties must be improved and once again popularise­d. A national seed production and distributi­on system should be establishe­d. Traditiona­l varieties can be promoted for a niche (organic) market.

8. The former Extension Service of the

Agricultur­e Department has broken down since the establishm­ent of the Provincial Council system. This essential service has to be fully resurrecte­d through fresh recruitmen­t, training and thereafter strengthen­ing the district- wise advisory service. This requires urgent upgrading of the Schools of Agricultur­e ( Farm Schools), the Practical Farm Schools ( one- year certificat­e), In- Service Training Institutes and the Agricultur­e Service Centres ( ASC) for training of staff and farmers and providing all agrarian services to farmers at village level.

9. A strong “Agrarian Services Authority” must be establishe­d with modern, computeris­ed data gathering capability. Organise district- wise state sponsored purchasing centres, transport and distributi­on, storage ( including cold storage), value adding / preserving ( including research and developmen­t), packaging, marketing, export and retail services through CWE, Sathosa, Co- ops, Registered Franchise Shops, private super markets etc. Establish price- control mechanisms, crop insurance and farmer loan schemes. Revamp the Paddy Marketing Board ( PMB) and set up government rice mills and storage complexes islandwide.

10. Create Far mer Societies or Co- operatives at village level which can counter exploitati­on by middlemen. These societies should operate with the Agrarian Service Authority so as to stabilise prices to the farmer and consumer as well. Wastage and crop losses can be minimised while over- production, under- production, wrong timing of output (weather and season-based), distributi­on problems, and a chaotic marketing system can be avoided. In fact, we can easily reduce the extents of inefficien­tly cultivated agricultur­al lands (as happens today) and put such lands back under forest cover ( especially in the hill- country region) while producing the same ( or higher) quantities of fruits and vegetables and other field crops. A modernised and computeris­ed national production plan with the proper Extension and Agrarian Services to guide it, can easily achieve this goal.

11. Similarly, the Animal Production / Dairy Production sectors must also be brought under this national plan so as to prevent manipulati­on of prices and the market. Uncontroll­ed import of poultry / eggs, meat and dairy products has to be phased out. Local production should be radically improved to meet our total demand.

12. The present monopoly in rice milling and paddy marketing has to be eliminated with strict state interventi­on. The state should also control import of essential food items in relation to vagaries in local production. “Food for the Nation” should be considered an “essential service” where hoarding, not declaring stocks, manipulati­ng imports and exports and creating artificial shortages etc. are considered serious offences. New legislatio­n in this regard is essential. The above 12 points should be seriously considered by the scientific committee. Organic farming and reverting back to ancient techniques and traditiona­l varieties and practices are somewhat idealistic goals.

Arable land

Feeding a population of 22 million people with limited arable land, a serious shortage of farm labour and a very limited water supply (made worse by climate change and increasing­ly adverse weather patterns) is not an easy task. It cannot be done with home-garden agricultur­e and traditiona­l cultivatio­n techniques. This was possible over a century ago when our population was around one million with a forest cover of over 80 percent. Today, the forest cover has dropped to 17 percent and there is no way we can reduce this anymore. In fact, we should increase our forests (especially in the hill country) to 30 percent or more. Therefore, the output (yield) per unit of agricultur­al land has to be at maximum levels.

Political slogans such as “land of the landless” are no longer tenable. Land is precious and only the minimum necessary should be utilized for agricultur­e, urban developmen­t and infrastruc­ture developmen­t while the rest should remain under forest cover if we are to save our fragile environmen­t and thereby the precious water sources. This is especially relevant due to our massive increase in population.

Therefore, a “National Land Use Plan” and a “National Agricultur­e Production Plan” rather than ad- hoc agricultur­e is the only way to save the environmen­t, produce sufficient food and avoid the human- elephant conflict and pest and disease epidemics.

Under these circumstan­ces, a complete switch over to organic farming without addressing the above issues, is not a risk worth taking.

 ??  ?? A farmer takes a bag of fertiliser to his land
A farmer takes a bag of fertiliser to his land

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