‘Government temporarily takes one step forward after many backward steps on agriculture’

By Dr. Hemakumara Nanayakkara

Continued from yesterday

Another less well known example is Cuba. With the collapse of the USSR, Cuba lost access to free or subsidized supplies of fertilizer. Given their trade blockades with the US, the island was forced to go organic. With all of their best effort and no other available options, they were only able to produce 20% of their food requirements, with the remainder having to be imported.

Globally of all the arable land available for commercial cultivation, 1.5% is presently organic. Out of that, 70% is pasture lands which do not require agro-chemicals as they are used for grazing of farm animals, whose excreta fertilizes the soil. Together with natural microbes in the soil, and minute amounts of naturally occurring Nitrogen found in rain water, these pasture lands benefit from a steady release of nitrogen into the soil. With careful planning and agrostological management, it is possible to use these dynamics to supplement nutrition for commercial agriculture.

However, the best examples of these practices are found in Sri Lankan tea producing RPCs which through years of consistent effort and investment, created small organic zones for tea, which they utilize to supply limited demand in niche international markets.

However, collective demand for such products accounts for a fraction of Sri Lanka’s total tea production. This means that even if it were possible to convert the nation’s entire tea sector – and its smallholders – into organic tea, it would create a global oversupply, which would crash prices in these markets.

Exponentially adverse
consequences

It is plainly and painfully obvious to every Sri Lankan that the decision to ban import and use of all agro-chemicals without any guidance, or feasible roadmap for farmers and all employed in the plantation sector was issued on a whim and without any plan whatsoever. As a result, this endeavor is doomed to fail. The consequences will be disastrous, and extremely difficult to reverse.

Through a single proclamation, this Government has intentionally compromised food production, and export performance in one fell swoop. This places the nation at risk of famine, and death from food insecurity. Even without the impacts of a fertilizer shortage – which will start to be felt from October, and get exponentially worse thereafter – Sri Lankans are already struggling to meet their daily needs. The Government is openly considering a return to the food rationing of the 1970s. What extremes will be required once food production and export crop yields drop to half of their current levels by 2022?

Sri Lanka cannot afford to find out. In order to save lives, and prevent the decimation of livelihoods, we call upon the Government to reverse their decision immediately. Do the sensible thing: lift the ban on imports of agro-chemicals.

Concluded