Mahindananda apportions blame to two other ministers

By Ifham Nizam

Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage yesterday said as a government they had failed to market the concept of organic fertiliser. The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Environment should have played a bigger role in promoting the going green campaign, he said.

The minister said the two crucial ministers had done virtually nothing to promote organic agriculture. He added that 70 percent of the chemical fertiliser was wasted due to overuse.

Answering questions at the WEBex organised by the President’s Media Centre yesterday, Aluthgamage said his ministry couldn’t do the marketing part while formulating national policies.

The Agriculture Minister also said Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa had said Sri Lanka would reject the shipment of fertiliser with harmful bacteria content when he met Ambassador of China to Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong on Wednesday at Temple Trees.

He said Premier had indicated that the fertiliser shipment had not met Sri Lanka’s specifications.

However, the Prime Minister had appreciated China’s continued support, while stressing that the problem was with the shipment. Aluthgamage said the PM had also thanked the Chinese government for supporting Sri Lanka in the fight against the pandemic and the vaccine effort.

Professor Nilwala Kottegoda stressed that Sri Lanka should focus on `Next Generation of Agriculture’. She also said that despite having patent rights, the country lacked a chemical industry.

She said she believed the buy back guarantees would ensure investments coming in.