A farmer in Sri Lanka attends to his field (Pictures AFP)

In its newest segment titled ‘REVERSE GEAR’ ‘Daily Mirror’ will feature government, ministers, parliamentarians- both of the ruling party and the opposition- and even state officials who contradict their own words and ‘reverse’ what they once said or did. At a time when the farmers, who were disappointed with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s decision to go fully organic, are planning to march to Colombo, we wish to highlight how the President contradicted his initial decision to change to organic from chemical farming and then went on reverse gear.

In his 2019 election campaign, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa promised to turn the country’s farmers to organic agriculture over a period of 10 years. In April 2020 the Government imposed a nationwide ban on the importation and use of synthetic fertiliser and pesticides; thereby ordering the country’s farmer community to go organic. 

The President said that the Government is ready to purchase paddy for a higher price than the guaranteed price if there is any reduction in the yield due to the use of organic fertilizer. Therefore, the president said that the farmers should not harbour any fear regarding this initiative. The President said that the Government is ready to bear the cost to ensure that the consumers purchase rice at existing prices.

Addressing the COP26 Summit in Scotland President Rajapaksa explained the rationale behind the decision he took. He said that for decades people have been suffering from chronic kidney disease and that the overuse of chemical fertiliser had contributed to this problem. He invited foreign nations to extend their support financially, technically and by other means to expedite implementing the decision successfully. 

Speaking to the newly inducted cabinet of ministers on April 18, 2022, President Rajapaksa said that he regretted the decision taken to ban chemical fertilizer in 2020; which resulted in a massive drop in food and large-scale protests across the country.