Blame game on contaminated fertiliser continues; Sri Lanka govt backtracks on greener agriculture move

Ever since the contaminated consignment of Chinese fertiliser came into the limelight in Sri Lanka; various ministers and MPs have continued to make contrasting opinions on the matter leading to much disarray and confusion and as of recent; the statements have become more and more contrasting and frequent.

Over the weekend; a local newspaper - The Sunday Times reported that Sri Lanka’s Agricultural Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage has said that, preparations are underway to resolve the dispute by paying 75 per cent of the claim by the Chinese company amounting to US$ 6.7 million.

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The Government has also decided to buy fresh stocks from the same company in a bid to stop the diplomatic spat with China; one of the biggest investors in Sri Lanka’s development and economic plans.

The Agricultural Minister’s statement comes at a time where officials from the Agricultural department have reiterated on several occasions that Sri Lanka will not make the payment for the contaminated consignment of fertiliserjust three days ago.

The Commercial High Court of Sri Lanka extended the interim order preventing the People’s Bank from making the payment for the Letters of Credit for the stock of organic fertiliser by Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group Co. Ltd until the 30th of this month.

Previously at the height of tension between China and Sri Lanka over this matter - State Minister of Organic Fertiliser Shashindra Rajapaksa initially said that the fertiliser batch will be retested however on the following the Agricultural Minister refuted the claim and said the batch will not be retested and no money will be paid.

In such a backdrop - Sri Lanka turned to India for help to obtain imports of nano nitrogen fertiliser for farmers to kick start their cultivations.

Yet, State Minister of Organic Fertiliser Production and Agriculture Shasheendra Rajapaksa has recently said his Ministry has no involvement in importing nano nitrogen fertilisers and that the Ministry of Agriculture is the only party involved in the importation of nano nitrogen fertiliser.

However, on 18th November, the Minister of Agriculture Mahindananda Aluthgamage stated that his ministry did not take any action regarding the nano nitrogen imports; it was in fact the Ministry of Fertiliser that was overseeing the Indian imports.

Earlier this year, the Sri Lankan government led by President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa decided to impose a ban on the use of chemical fertiliser in a bid to move to more sustainable and greener methods of agriculture.

This had sparked months-long protests across the island, with farmers lamenting that they are unable to produce cultivations with organic fertiliser, with many still awaiting fertiliser and are well behind schedule for the ongoing Maha season.

In a major step back from the stringent policy to move to only using organic fertiliser, permission was granted yesterday to import quality plant nutrients, including urea once again.

Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture Prof. Udith K. Jayasinghe, while admitting that the country’s sudden move to shift to organic fertiliser had in fact done more harm than good, said that the decision was reached following a risk management plan made by a group of agronomists and experts to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

However, this claim was once again refuted by the minister of Agriculture Mahindananda Aluthgamage yesterday, who said that the government has so far not decided to allow the importation of chemical fertilisers for paddy and vegetables.

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State Minister of Organic Fertiliser Production and Agriculture Shasheendra Rajapaksa, in the usual fashion, contrasting with the subject minister once again has said that discussions on the matter are due to be taken up with the president this week.

What initially started as a mere consignment of substandard fertiliser unsuitable for use has now turned into an unprepossessing diplomatic tug of war between two countries and an even bigger chaos of mass confusion amongst the farmers and the public at large due to contrasting opinions made by officials and MPs.