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Fertiliser issue: Farmers continue agitation as Government opens tenders

15 Jan 2022

By Skandha Gunasekara Farmers are continuing to protest the Government policy change on the use of fertiliser and conditional payment plans on compensation for crop loss as the harvest of the Maha cultivation season is around the corner. The continued protests come in the backdrop of the Government opening tenders for locally-sourced organic fertiliser. The previous cultivation season was a massive failure in terms of crop yield with a reported 50% drop, farmers claimed, blaming the Government’s decision to switch to organic farming overnight, leaving farmers impoverished and triggering a severe food shortage in the country. Many have blamed the agrarian disaster on the Government move to pivot to the use of 100% organic fertiliser and banning the use of chemical fertiliser without carrying out a pilot project to determine the efficacies and shortcomings of organic farming. Government accused of failing farmers All Ceylon Farmers Association President Namal Karunaratne told The Sunday Morning that the Government had failed the farmers on repeated occasions.  He charged that the Government had suddenly introduced the organic farming policy to cover up the fact that they did not have the finances to import fertiliser. “The Government initially cancelled the fertiliser subsidy. Then the foreign exchange crisis came and they were unable to give fertiliser for cheap. They got the vote of the farmers using the fertiliser issue. Obviously, the Government couldn’t acknowledge that they stopped fertiliser imports because they didn’t have the money. Stopping the import was a bitter pill for farmers to swallow, so to make it less bitter the Government put forward this policy of ‘toxin-free food’ and introduced organic farming. Using this policy, they cut the farmers’ fertiliser subsidy and stopped importing chemical fertiliser. However, the Government had no plan in place to integrate organic farming into Sri Lanka’s agriculture system. As a result, the Maha season was a failure and they had to scrap the decision of organic farming, but they can’t go back to giving the fertiliser subsidy again either.” He said that despite Government assurance, it was not prepared for the Yala season and farmers were hesitant to carry out their farming activities. “Now they are saying that everything is ready for the Yala season and to commence cultivation according to the organic farming system. But this is what they said before the Maha season too and that everything was ready. The Maha season was a disaster and the harvest was over 50% lower than last time. We clearly state that the Government is not ready for the Yala season and its commencement is only a month away. If the Government was genuinely prepared for the Yala season, then it would have distributed the necessary fertiliser and made the necessary preparations, but none of this has happened yet. The farmers know this and so are very apprehensive and cautious about going into the Yala season. They are aware of the uncertainty and are reluctant to farm.” He asserted that the Government and its officials had misled the farmers by promising to compensate for the losses incurred in the Maha season and then laying down unfair criteria on who is compensated. “The Government first promised to compensate the farmers due to the poor yield in the Maha season. However, now they are backtracking and saying that only the farmers who used the four types of organic fertiliser given by the Government would receive the compensation. It is almost impossible to find a farmer who used all four types of organic fertiliser the Government gave. This is because most farmers did not receive those fertiliser types. The Government is claiming that farmers refused to take the organic fertiliser, but the fact is that all four types of the organic fertilisers were not distributed properly among the farmers due to the inefficiency of the officials and the Government’s complete lack of preparedness. Some farmers didn’t get any fertiliser,” he explained. Backtracking on compensation? Karunaratne said both President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the Minister of Agriculture had promised to compensate all farmers, but the Government was now backtracking. “Void of any conditions, the President, while addressing the nation, said that they were going for organic farming for the Maha season and that there would be no shortage in crop yield for the season, there wouldn’t be a food shortage, there wouldn’t be a loss to the farmers and that if there was a loss to the farmers the Government would pay compensation and that there was no reason to worry. This came directly from the President’s mouth. Then at a television debate with me, Minister of Agriculture Mahindananda Aluthgamage too said that compensation would be given.  “Then the Government had all the farmers fill out details of their farm and harvest. After getting the forms filled and signed the Government told the farmers that for those who produced their own organic fertiliser the Government would give Rs. 5,000 per acre. Those who didn’t produce their own organic fertiliser wouldn’t get the Rs. 5,000 but would be given fertiliser by the Government. This was an agreement with the farmers and this agreement didn’t have any of the conditions the Government is talking of now as criteria for receiving the compensation. The farmers have been mistreated and lied to and have now lost their Maha season harvest as well as incurred heavy financial losses.” Farmer demonstrations and protests Karunaratne said that farmers had begun demonstrations and protests across the island as a campaign for their struggles, adding that future demonstrations would not be notified in advance. Chief among their demands is Rs. 100,000 compensation for each farmer per acre of farmland. “We demand that the Government pays compensation of Rs. 100,000 to a farmer for each acre they farm as the Government has wronged the farming communities and admitted to doing so. This wrong must be made right. Our second demand is that the Government gives the necessary fertiliser to carry out the farming needs of each farmer. This must be done as soon as possible because the Yala season is around the corner. The third demand is that the Government provide the needed permitted seeds at a reasonable rate. Right now, there is a price hike in seeds because there are no standards followed. These demands are for all farmers, not just paddy farmers.” Commenting on the controversy over the quality of imported organic fertiliser, Karunaratne said that all must meet the SLSI standards. “If they are going to give organic fertiliser then they must give fertiliser that meets the Government’s standards. We don’t want substandard Chinese fertiliser or fertiliser that is unsuitable for use as soon as the can is opened. Some fertiliser cans are exploding. The Government needs to ensure the standards are met and that these fertilisers are suitable to the Lankan environment and our soil.” Organic fertiliser to be imported Meanwhile Director General of Agriculture Dr. Ajantha De Silva said that several kinds of organic fertilisers would be imported as well. “I have given the recommendation to the National Fertiliser Secretariat and they will go through the possibilities from different sources because I want to have several types of fertiliser available – bio-liquid fertiliser, organic fertiliser, and nitrogen rich fertiliser in granular form, as well as prosperous supplement and potassium supplement. These are for the upcoming Yala season. All these recommendations are given to the National Fertiliser Secretariat and they will be doing the procurement based on the total country requirement. Only then can we tell what fertiliser we are going to be utilising the most. They have initiated the procurement procedure.” He added that a percentage of organic fertiliser would also be locally sourced and would meet the highest of standards. “Nitrogen-sourced fertiliser – we are looking at the possibility of getting it through a local supplier or it will be imported. The rest will be imported. We will not entertain any fertiliser with microbes. Even SLSI standard 1704 will not permit us to bring down fertiliser with microbes. Locally produced fertiliser will meet our SLSI standards. The Ministry has an inventory now with details of the last season so we can see the efficacy of these fertilisers and the farmers’ willingness to supply. It is based on these that the local suppliers will be selected.” State Ministry of Agriculture Secretary Nihal Ranasinghe said that tenders were opened this week for local manufacturers of organic fertiliser. “On Wednesday (12) we opened tenders for local producers of organic fertiliser. We hope to give it before the beginning of the Yala season. There will be some that will be imported but the suppliers have not been finalised.” With regard to compensation, Ranasinghe said that only those who used Government distributed organic fertiliser would receive the compensation as those who didn’t use organic fertiliser could not have carried out their farming activities and thus were not eligible for the compensation. “The compensation will be given. It will be given to all those who farmed using the organic fertiliser we provided. Some farmers did not take the organic fertiliser. If they did not take the fertiliser it means they did not farm, so they will not get the compensation. If there are some who engaged in farming yet have not received compensation, the Agrarian Services officers must investigate and ascertain if they must be compensated."


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