Farmers get big bonus to go organic
Rs 12,500 for each hectare
To encourage farmers to use environment-friendly organic far ming practices, the Agriculture Ministry would pay an incentive of Rs. 12,500 for each hectare not exceeding two hectares (five acres) to produce and use organic fertiliser for cultivation, the Minister said.
The Cabinet of ministers approved a proposal tabled by Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage this week to encourage more farmers to produce organic fertiliser. The demand for organic fertiliser is increasing as farmers are preparing their land for the next season.
“All farmers are entitled to this incentive from the Government to produce organic fertiliser on their own. We would like to see more farmers engaged in this initiative and relevant departments are given adequate resources and training to educate the farmers on the process,” he said.
The Minister said that for the next Maha season the Agriculture Ministry was planning to meet the requirement of organic fertiliser for paddy cultivation in about 800,000 hectares through licensed organic fertiliser manufacturers and individual production by farmers.
For the upcoming Maha season, the Ministry had estimated that at least 750,000 metric tonnes of organic fertiliser would be manufactured locally.
As most of the Sri Lankan farmers relied heavily on chemical fertilisers over the years, currently many of them are using cow dung, poultry litter and compost to make up for the loss of chemical fertiliser, following the announcement by the Government that chemical fertiliser imports were being banned.
Minister Aluthgamage said in the past Sri Lanka spent around US$ 400 million--nearly Rs 100 billion-- a year, for the import of chemical fertilisers alone by four major agrarian companies in the country.
“We want to divert this expenditure locally by investing in organic farming plants and empowering farmers, rather than money going out of the country for imports,” the Minister said.
He said many farmers across the country were skeptical of using organic fertilisers since they used chemical fertilisers for decades. They were of the view that it would take some time--probably the next two seasons--to make the soil fertile with organic fertilisers.
Another main concern among the farmers was that the usage of organic fertilisers would reduce the harvest. Many were concerned that the harvest would drop to about half of what they harvested when they used chemical fertilisers.
“We are aware of these concerns coming from farmers. If the farmers are to lose their livelihood or fail to get a decent profit, the Government will step in to compensate the farmers,” Mr. Aluthgamage said.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Customs began a probe this week into a shipment containing 9,795 metric tonnes of urea into the Colombo port since the ban on chemical fertiliser came to effect from May 6.
Sri Lanka Customs Deputy Director and Spokesperson Sudaththa Silva told the Sunday Times the department was still checking on the ship operator's claim that the order had been made on March 6.
“It took four months for the ship to arrive in the country even though it began its voyage on March 6. The master of the ship informed us that the delay was due to engine problems and the ship had to be taken to Malaysia for repairs,” Mr Silva told the Sunday Times.
The National Fertiliser Secretariat was also requested by the Customs to look into the matter and provide further details to determine if the import was legal or not.
Meanwhile, the Agriculture Ministry was also facing the difficulty of ensuring farmers were given adequate fertiliser for the current Yala season as there was an acute shortage of imported chemical fertiliser.
According to the Ministry 102,000 metric tonnes of chemical fertiliser had been imported by four major agrarian companies and the stocks were yet to be distributed among farmers.
The Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) said it would take legal action against those who were hoarding large stocks of imported fertilisers in the country even though the demand for fertiliser skyrocketed after the Government announced a sudden ban on fertiliser imports.
CAA Chair m a n Shantha Dissanayake said the department received many complaints from farmers that some traders were hoarding large stocks of fertiliser imported for the current Yala season, to sell them at a higher price in the upcoming season.
He urged farmers to contact the CAA hotline number 1977 to lodge complaints against such traders, so that the CAA could take legal action against them.