Blames fertiliser crisis; claims farmers pushed to brink of suicide
BY Buddhika SamaraweeraThe country will see a severe food shortage in the future, as stocks of paddy and rice are nearing depletion and the upcoming paddy harvest could be severely reduced due to the fertiliser crisis, said former Parliamentarian and current Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Member Hirunika Premachandra.Speaking at a media briefing held at the Opposition Leader’s office yesterday (18), she said that the country’s economy, which is based on agriculture, has completely collapsed due to the current fertiliser crisis.“Whatever the crisis situations that arose in the past, the people have never been in hunger because the country had become self-sufficient in agriculture, but now agriculture is completely destroyed. Farmers across the country say that their paddy harvest will fall sharply due to the lack of fertiliser. In this situation, what do people have to eat when the stocks of paddy and rice run out?” she queried.Noting that the soil in Sri Lanka is very fertile and suitable for agriculture, Premachandra said that the country’s soil has been accustomed to chemical fertilisers for a long time. However, she charged that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s foolishness was well reflected in the sudden decision to direct farmers to use fertilisers that had never been used in the country before. “For a long time, farmers used chemical fertilisers to grow everything, including paddy and vegetables. They have now been given fertilisers that have not been tested for quality and are being asked to apply them. In the face of this crisis, the farmers have become helpless so much so that they would even commit suicide,” she added.A proposal to ban the use and importation of chemical fertilisers and agrochemicals including pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides/weedicides was submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers by Rajapaksa in April 2021 and the same was granted approval, following which the relevant gazette notification was issued on 6 May 2021. However, the Government decided to revoke the ban on the importation of chemical fertilisers and agrochemicals, and to thereby allow the private sector to import the same, with effect from 24 November 2021.Against this backdrop, farmers in several areas are still seen charging that there is a serious shortage of fertiliser for their cultivations and a number of protests have also been organised by farmers’ organisations and various parties demanding that the Government provide a solution to the fertiliser shortage.Earlier, several government and Opposition politicians have warned of a severe food shortage in the country in the coming months given the fertiliser crisis and the current US dollar shortage in the country.Incumbent United National Party (UNP) Leader and MP Ranil Wickremesinghe has recently warned of a food shortage in the country by April 2022. Speaking to the media last month, he called on the Government to finalise the purchase of food and fuel on credit from India as there will inevitably be a food shortage in the country.Meanwhile, Environment Minister Mahinda Amaraweera recently said that if the agronomists say that there could be a food shortage in the country, a programme should be formulated to address it instead of blaming them, as what agronomists had warned of in this manner had happened in the past.
