Fertilizer ban: Is food crisis on the offing?

The debate between the leaders of the government and farmers over the prevailing fertilizer shortage reminds us the Sinhala folk tale called Hathara Beeri Kathawa or the story of four deaf men. One man puts a question to another who gives an answer which has nothing to do with the question. And a third man joins the conversation with something hardly relevant to the occasion. Thus goes their chat.

Here, farmers are demanding fertilizer – chemical or organic - for their crops and the government leaders, without providing them with what they want have been repeating that chemical fertilizer is harmful to the ecosystem and the health. Farmers were never adamant in demanding chemical fertilizer; what they want has been fertilizer. If the government insist on organic fertilizer usage, then the solution to the current farmer’s agitations is very simple; provide sufficient organic fertilizer in time. 

The imports of chemical fertilizer and other agro-chemicals were banned on May 6 through an extraordinary gazette and subsequently Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage had been firm that government would supply sufficient organic fertilizer for the Maha Season which begins in early October. However, leaders of the government must acknowledge that no fertilizer – chemical or organic - was provided to them since then, except for about 100,000 liters of liquid fertilizer imported from India last month. 

The abrupt ban on agro-chemicals affected the cultivation of the previous Yala Season as well, since the ban was implemented halfway through that season. Although the Maha Season is now on, the minister failed to keep his promise to provide organic fertilizer. If the fertilizer shortage resulted in the farmers keeping away from their farmlands or resorting to make a do-or-die effort to cultivate without fertilizer, the result sometimes would be a disastrous food crisis in the country in a few months. Already the prices of essential food items are rising in leaps and bounds.

In fact, the government was not in a hurry to ban chemical fertilizer imports in the early months of this year, despite President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s election manifesto having had a target to transform the country’s agriculture from one based on chemical fertilizer to one based on organic fertilizer. But it took a hasty decision in April prompted by the prevailing foreign exchange crisis. However, the move was so ill-timed and shortsighted as it is likely to result in a more serious dollar crisis, if the ban led to more food imports with more agitations. 

Now, desperate in handling the situation authorities have created new issues. They seem to have opened an LC for importing organic fertilizer from a Chinese company before inspecting the samples in a local lab. Two tests conducted on the samples found that they contained harmful bacteria, but the Chinese company rejected the test results. It now wants to have samples tested by a third party in an “independent” lab, while the Chinese Embassy has blacklisted one of the premier State Banks – The People’s Bank - for failing payments for the consignment. 
The authorities seem to have succumbed to the pressure. Agriculture Minister says samples of another consignment from the same company could be tested in an “independent” lab. Wouldn’t it compromise on the credibility of the local lab? 

The argument that the agro-chemicals including fertilizer pollute the environment and harmful to the bio-diversity and the human health has been proven for some extent in Sri Lanka as well. Many species of living organisms have vanished from our natural environs after the usage of agro-chemicals in the past 50 years. Kidney diseases widely prevalent in the North Central Province are also attributed to the agro-chemical usage. However, some experts are hesitant to subscribe to the theory (on kidney diseases), on the grounds that they are used in other parts of the country as well. Yet, the disappearance of many living species from our wells, rivers, and paddy fields cannot be ignored and could be a danger signal.

Nevertheless, chemical fertilizer usage has come through a long period of time, gradually accompanying many other partners such as machines, insecticides, weedicides and seeds developed in foreign countries, transforming the whole farming culture in the country. Questions have been raised about the compatibility of imported seeds and the local organic fertilizer. The lifestyle of the farming community is not simple as the one that prevailed 50 years ago. We see more vehicles and new houses with modern facilities in rural areas today. This demands more financial capacities among farmers. If one single cog is broken, the entire system might collapse. That is the rationale behind the fears of agitating farmers across the country. 

Authorities should not be blind to this reality when planning to switch to organic farming. It has to be a gradual process with many pilot projects based on the crops and localities. The current situation demands an immediate damage-control effort that would avert a food crisis in the near future.