17 November 2021 04:09 pm Views - 1564
Refusing claims that chemical fertilizer was banned overnight, State Minister Shasheendra Rajapaksa said today organic farming was tested by the Agriculture Department for three seasons from 2019.
He told Parliament that the Agriculture Department tested on how organic farming could be done by getting farmers to use 30% of organic fertilizer and 70% chemical fertilizer for three seasons since 2019.
The State Minister said the Agriculture Department has experienced it and observed the implementation of organic farming.
He said budget allocations have been made to provide fertilizer subsidies for organic fertilizer for the first time and added that it was provided only for the chemical fertilizer earlier. “This is one reason for not being able to promote organic farming,” he said.(Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera)