The first benefactor of the Sri Lankan government's decision to make a fundamental shift in its organic policy by permitting chemical fertilizer imports is IFFCO, a public sector fertilizer corporation.
It has started the procedure by importing nano nitrogen liquid fertilizer (nano urea) from India for maize and paddy planting in the country.
According to an IFFCO representative, the corporation has flown 44,000 bottles of nano nitrogen liquid to date, with a total contract amount of one million bottles to be exported.
He noted that since initiating commercial production of nano urea, IFFCO has received inquiries from a variety of nations. The corporation, however, was unable to comply with the request due to high demand from home farmers.
Hazardous Chinese Organic Fertilizers
“We started exporting the product since it is a slow season for urea demand and because Sri Lanka is a neighboring country The Fertilizers Department was the driving force behind this," he explained.
Sri Lanka has banned importing Chinese organic fertilizers after finding them to be significantly polluted with hazardous bacteria, according to the local planters' community. In the aftermath of a reduction in tea output, the country has bought 30,000 tonnes of potassium chloride from Lithuania, while India is in the process of delivering more ammonium sulfate.
Farmers' protests, particularly from tea producers, have compelled the Sri Lankan government to rethink its organic policy in light of a reduction in tea exports, which used to bring in roughly $3 billion per year. Sri Lanka prohibited the import of all chemical fertilizers in May as part of its quest to become a 100% organic farming nation. Farmers were outraged by the decision, which came while the country was still reeling from the Covid issue and the resulting decline in tourism revenues.
Tea plants, unlike rubber, require continual fertilizer treatment at least two to three times a year, according to PT Joseph, Managing Director, Tropical Plantations, Vandiperiyar. The lack of organic manure on the island country, as well as a ban on chemical fertilizers, has harmed the crop, rendering the tea business unsustainable.
Sri Lanka mostly produces orthodox tea strains, and the decline in output would have benefited Nilgiris teas. Sri Lankan orthodox tea is mostly sold in Europe, but Indian orthodox tea is sold in West Asia, Russia, & Iran, among other places. According to him, the Sri Lankan product's main USP is its packaging quality.
