• Sri Lanka is ready to accept the organic fertiliser from China if the fertiliser is provided according to the required specifications 
• The Chinese authorities were informed that the shipment would be accepted only after it was taken back to China and reproduced to meet the local specifications 

By Ajith Siriwardana   

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa informed the Chinese Ambassador in Sri Lanka that the organic fertiliser shipment sent by the Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group will not be accepted, Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage said quoting the PM yesterday. 

  He said this was conveyed during a meeting held with the Prime Minister and the Chinese Ambassador on Wednesday.   

The Minister said at the on-line press conference of the Presidential Media Centre that the Chinese authorities were informed that the shipment would be accepted only after it was taken back to China and reproduced to meet the local specifications.   

He said Sri Lanka was ready to accept the organic fertiliser from China if fertiliser was provided according to the required specifications.   

The Minister also said that the Agriculture Ministry had sought the approval from the President to import some identified fungicides and herbicides required for cultivation of crops such as potatoes and big-onions.   
He said the Ministry was preparing a list of such chemicals and added that it was to be submitted to the Cabinet for approval.   

The Minister said the decision to import certain identified fungicides and herbicides was taken as there were no solutions in organic farming for some of the diseases in potato and big-onion cultivation. 

 
The Minister said however, the imported chemicals would not be released to the market but would be kept in the Agriculture Department so as to be released to the farmers as recommended by the relevant officials.  
-The Minister said the decision to import certain identified fungicides and herbicides was taken as there were no solutions in organic farming for some of the diseases in potato and big-onion cultivation.