Fresh organic tender for Yala season
Sri Lanka is likely to call for a fresh international tender for the Yala season in a bid to ensure that the organic farming process has adequate fertilizer.
Agriculture Department ( DOA) Director General Dr. Ajantha De Silva told the Business Times on Wednesday that they will be calling for a fresh international tender for organic fertiliser as the requirement for the Yala season is not adequate with the available stocks in the country.
He noted that since the requirement is not sufficient based on past experience authorities need to obtain additional fertiliser from other sources.
Local suppliers can be considered as well if their manuf acturing process has improved, Dr. De Silva said.
Unlike the Maha season, the next cultivation season Yala from May to August is a minor cropping season.
Dr. De Silva noted that while most of the local fertiliser products have not been tested by the DOA due to a very short time period available to do so,
guidelines were issued to identify the Nitrogen content in them and carry out testing on government research fields while using it parallel on the fields.
Some of the stocks reported to have burst are newly registered locally produced suppliers of organic fertilisers, he said.
Commenting on these incidents where farmers reported fertiliser cans bursting, Peradeniya University Weed Science Senior Prof. Buddhi Marambe said that this is due to the increase in the acidity of the gases in the fertiliser can.
He believes that the manufacturer has not completed the entire production process resulting in microbial activities continuing to occur within a sealed environment giving out a bad odour.
When this occurs, the acidity increases impacting the plant surface causing the leaves to be scorched, he explained adding that humans too can be impacted with the peeling off of the top skin.
Prof. Marambe noted that it was the responsibility of the National Fertiliser Secretariat (NFS) to ensure that the product is of an acceptable quality.
Standards have been issued by the Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI) 1702 of 2021 for liquid organic fertilisers that manufacturers have to comply with.
However, NFS National Director Chandana Lokuhewage differs in his opinion on the said product insisting that it can have no harmful effects on animals, plants and humans.
But he agreed that it is due to the gases in the can that have got activated that resulted in this burst of the fertiliser.
Authorities have already distributed more than 6 million liquid litres to the farmers and they have received only a few complaints. These cans have been recalled where cases had been reported from only about 10 places, he noted adding that the producers have also been informed accordingly.
Mr. Lokuhewage pointed out that some producers’ incorrect storage practices resulted in this situation as they were not stored in an upright position.
Some of the cans have been canned while they were still in the final stages of fermentation, the National Director pointed out adding that this has been found to be the case in about 200 of the 5000 litre cans that had been distributed.