Private sector debuts affordable new organic fertiliser product
08 Jun 2022
Private sector debuts affordable new organic fertiliser product
08 Jun 2022
Purportedly half the cost of urea-based options
Against the backdrop of an impending fertiliser crisis over the upcoming Yala season, the private sector of Sri Lanka has introduced a novel breakthrough organic fertiliser product that has the potential to pull the country out of a fast-approaching calamity.GreenMan Natural said its product is sold at half the cost of urea-based fertilisers, making it an affordable solution to farmers, with the promise of delivering the expected yields. The cost to fertilise one acre of land per season with this product is said to be Rs. 40,000.Manufactured from plant extracts, the product itself is consistent with plant biology and systemic in performance as a plant nutrient, the company stated. “The products are non-toxic in every sense and safe to use. They cause no harm to the environment and are friendly to the all-important biology of the soil. This is what makes GreenMan suitable for all types of crops, including tea, paddy, coconut, cinnamon, maize, sugarcane, fruits, and vegetables,” the company’s CEO Keith Muller told The Morning at a recently held press conference.Given the current stigma associated with organic fertiliser, as fears are rife that such products may contain harmful bacteria and viruses, the company assured that it provides a 100% sterile product from the beginning of the manufacturing process, which has been established through local testing by the authorities in charge.“GreenMan is the only known natural fertiliser in the country that works without posing any bio risks, together with soil biology as a soil conditioner that will bring back fertile soil to our cultivated lands and increase yields,” Muller added.Through the use of this product, the company said it is confident that Sri Lanka’s now mostly barren soil will be made fertile once by rejuvenating its biology. “The scarcity of chemical fertiliser for nearly a year has cleansed the soils, making them immediately ready to effectively use soil-friendly fertiliser such as GreenMan. With the added benefit of a working and fertile soil, we reduce the need to externally fertilise the ground and thereby reduce the long-term cost of fertilising crops. Fertiliser that deplete and even completely kill the soil biology, are costing our agriculture more in the long term,” Muller noted.Also present at the media briefing was Deepthiratne Bandara, a paddy farmer from the village of Nachchiduwa in Anuradhapura. Commenting on his experience with the product, Bandara expressed satisfaction over his newfound ability to increase his harvest in comparison to the use of conventional chemical fertiliser.In addition, a presentation and testimonial by Chandana Palliguruge, a tea planter from Wanduramba, was also showcased. “I am currently cultivating four acres of tea. After the first two months of use, I noticed immediate results. The shape of the leaves and volume on each bush saw a drastic increase, which made it convenient for tea pluckers to conduct their harvests efficiently,” he said.He also stated that when GreenMan’s products were applied, a reduction in the presence of wood ants and wild grasses were observed.Meanwhile, The Morning also reached out to Dimuthu Abeysinghe, a four-time Presidential Award and five-time National Championship-winning tea smallholder, who has been involved in GreenMan Natural’s test plots.It is his opinion that this development marks the first step towards the switch over from chemical to organic-based fertiliser products in the agriculture industry of the country. “I see the benefit of these products only from the angle of a humble farmer. I suggest that educated officers from the respective research institutes must visit these sites and conduct research in order to determine if there are any identifiable shortcomings. Do these tests and quickly rescue small tea estate owners from this abyss due to the lack of appropriate fertiliser,” he urged.When queried on the certifications, standards, and necessary approvals obtained by local authorities to introduce such a product to the market, it was revealed that GreenMan has been granted approval by the National Fertiliser Secretariat and thereon by the Department of Agriculture after being submitted for testing and trials at various levels successfully. The product has been recognised by numerous publics in agriculture through trials including the National Organic Control Unit of the Export Development Board (EDB). On an international scale, the products are certified by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) as 100% organic.Currently, GreenMan’s products are manufactured and imported from India. However, as one of the main raw materials required for production is “neem” (kohomba), the company seeks to set up a plant in Sri Lanka in order to export to the rest of the world, which will, in turn, bring much-needed foreign exchange to Sri Lanka’s economy. The challenge at hand for the company is to change the narrative, break free from dependence on urea, and bring the country’s agriculture sector to the thriving state that it once was, it concluded.
