Coutesy Taipei Times FERTILIZER BAN: Asia Siyaka Commodities blamed the drop on the agrochemical ban, a government push to transform the country’s farms into 100 percent organic Sri Lanka’s tea exports have dropped to their lowest level in 23 years, official figures showed yesterday, hit by a fertilizer ban and Russia’s war against Ukraine. Tea is […]

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia Colombo, March 28 (Sunday Observer): The pulse of a nation beats through its traditional knowledge. This holds true for ancient civilisations such as Sri Lanka. For nations such as ours to wipe out that which is indigenous and create a socio-economic path for its people on totally alien lines can only spell disaster. […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror President Gotabaya Rajapaksa admitted today that he made a mistake by banning chemical farming, and therefore he decided to re-introduce it. He also said the government should have reached out to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a programme much earlier. Making his remarks to the newly appointed Cabinet ministers, the […]

It will not be imposed on farmers but the choice will be left to them: Minister K. Govardhan Reddy Environment-friendly organic farming will be promoted in the State to ensure premium price for the farm produce, Agriculture Minister Kakani Govardhan Reddy said, adding: However, the switch to organic farming will not be a sudden one […]

by Dr Parakrama Waidyanatha Courtesy The Island The Maha harvesting of rice is now nearing completion and the strong indications are that this season’s crop decline would be 40% to 50% due to lack of fertilizer. Concurrently, the yields of other crops too are dropping and the tea yields of 2022 could be the worst […]

Courtesy Hiru News Official data showed yesterday that Sri Lanka’s tea crop suffered its lowest yield in 13 years, reducing output in the country’s main export commodity as the island grapples with its worst economic crisis in seven decades. The Sri Lanka Tea Board figures showed that monthly tea crops dropped to 18.16 million kilos […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror A seed crisis has emerged because of the impossibility of importing hybrid seeds due to the dollar crisis. (PIC: AFP) There are issues regarding importing fertilizer, pesticides and seeds for the Yala season due to the dollar crisis Farmers have faced difficulties during the Yala season due to the lack of […]

James Conca Courtesy Forbes Again and again, new solutions for the environment and human society fail if not properly planned and executed. Whether it’s widescale use of renewables, closing nuclear plants with no plan to replace the generation, or big infrastructure builds just to make jobs, if the rush to emplace is more important than their […]

Peter Alagos Courtesy Gulf News Sri Lanka is playing a significant role in the food security needs of Qatar amidst steady growth in its local and expatriate population and the imminent influx of millions of tourists for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, according to a top business leader.Qatar’s population is growing and as we come close […]

වන්නි රොමේෂ් මධුෂංඛ උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස් උතුරු පලාතේ සහල නැලිය ලෙසින් හැඳින්වෙන මන්නාරම් දිස්ත්‍රීක්කයේ මෙවර මවකන්නයේ වී අස්වැන්නට නිසි කලට පොහොර නොලැබීම හේතුවෙන්  අස්වැන්න 50 %කින් පමණ අඩුවෙනු ඇතැයි දිස්ත්‍රීක් ගොවීහු පෙන්වා දෙති. මන්නාරම පූවර්සන්කුලම් ප්‍රදේශයේ වී අස්වැන්න නෙලීමේ කටයුතු මේ දින වල සිදුවන අතරම එම ප්‍රදේශයේ පිහිටි සියලු කුඹුරු ගොවිතැන්හි වී වගාවන් සඳහා […]

By R.M. Samanmalee Swarnalatha Courtesy Eurasiareview Sri Lankan government’s badly planned organic farming policy that has banned the use of chemical fertilizer in farms has upset farmers in this rice-growing heartland and a political stronghold of the ruling coalition. The policy has also drawn criticism from agricultural experts, who warn that Sri Lanka’s food security […]

උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත් කාබනික පොහොර යොදා සිදු කළ මෙවර මහ කන්නයේ අස්වැන්න සැලකිය යුතු ප්‍රමාණයකින් අඩු වී ඇතැ යි බොහෝ ප්‍රදේශවල ගොවීන් පවසනවා. ඇතැම් ප්‍රදේශවල ගොවීන් පෙන්වා දෙන්නේ, රජයෙන් ප්‍රමාණවත් තරම් කාබනික පොහොර ද නො ලැබුණු බවයි. මෙවර මහ කන්නය යටතේ කාබනික පොහොර යොදා ගනිමින් ගාල්ල දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ ප්‍රදේශ කිහිපයක ගොවීන් වී වගාව සිදු කර […]

Courtesy Borneo Bulletin COLOMBO (XINHUA) – Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Trade said yesterday it decided to import 100,000 tonnes of white rice from Myanmar to control the rising price of rice in local markets. The ministry said in a statement it planned to import the rice at USD445 per tonne through the Sri Lanka State […]

Courtesy Island Numerous positive claims are often cited for organic farming such as being environmentally friendly, superior food quality free from pesticides and other toxins, efficient energy use and sustainable food production. Much of these are highly contestable, and the most critical issue, why it is expanding only at a snail pace, is hardly discussed. […]

DOUG SAUNDERS Courtesy The Globe & Mail Next time you think of reaching for the higher-priced produce on your supermarket’s organic” shelf, spare a moment’s thought for the people of Sri Lanka. After its annual rice harvest failed, this poor island nation – whose diet is about 80-per-cent rice – in recent weeks launched a […]

Courtesy Adaderana Marking a moment of historical significance, Sri Lanka received its first ever Geographical Indication (GI) certification when the European Union (EU) Commission on 02 February,2022 granted GI status to Ceylon Cinnamon. The outcome was a result of a painstaking, decade-long, arduous endeavour led by the Sri Lanka Export Development (EDB) under the Ministry […]

Courtesy Ukragroconsult 1 February 2022 If it is possible to learn from the mistakes of others, a moment has come for our parliamentary committees and the Ministry of Agriculture to take a good look at Sri Lanka. For, what better way to implement great policies than by seeing their impact beforehand? And, as the Kenyan […]

ByJoe Wallen, SOUTH ASIA CORRESPONDENT and Nishantha Hewage IN COLOMBO courtesy The Telegraph The country’s worst economic crisis, compounded by a disastrous switch to organic farming, leaves impoverished unable to buy essential items Dinner time has become Susila Irangani’s least favourite time of the day. Nowadays, the 62-year-old never knows whether she will be able to put food on […]

Courtesy Hiru News The ‘Samagi Govijana Prakashanaya’ of the Samagi Jana Balawega was launched in Polonnaruwa this morning (29). It is headed by the Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa. The launching ceremony of the Samagi Jana Balawega’s Samagi Govijana Manifesto commenced this morning near the Parakrama Samudra in Polonnaruwa. The event was inaugurated by the Opposition […]

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස් පොහොර තහනම් කොට ගොවිජනතාව මහා ව්‍යසනයකට ඇද දැමූ ආණ්ඩුව,ඒ ගොවි ජනතාව අසීරුවෙන් ගොවිතැන් කොට අස්වැන්න නෙළා ගන්නට සූදානම් වන විට චීනෙන් සහ ඉන්දියාවෙන් සහල් ගෙන්වීමට කටයුතු කොට ඇතැයි ද විපක්ෂ නායකතුමා පැවසීය. අනාගත කෘෂිකර්මාන්තය පිළිබඳව සමගි ජනබලවේගයේ දැක්ම, ප්‍රතිපත්තිය සහ වැඩ පිළිවෙල ඇතුලත් ” සමගි ගොවිජන ප්‍රකාශනය” දේශයට දායාද කිරීමේ […]

Courtesy Khaleej Times Beetroots are contraband, according to a Customs official. Sri Lanka is battling food shortages, but officials have seized a 16-tonne shipment of beetroots for violating a strict import ban aimed at propping up the island’s ailing economy. A shipping container full of the illicit vegetable arrived with a false manifest claiming they […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror A Chinese company embroiled in a dispute with Sri Lanka over organic fertilizer, has made a formal complaint with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Qingdao Seawin Biological Group Co., Ltd, in an email to Daily Mirror sent through a local agent, said that the complaint was made […]

Courtesy Adaderana

Courtesy Adaderana The Government intends to support Green Gram (Mung bean) cultivation as an intermediate crop in the lands where paddy cannot be cultivated, according to the President’s Media Division. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has taken this decision considering the information received during the observation duties at the Department of Agrarian Development. President Rajapaksa has instructed […]

Courtesy News 1st COLOMBO (News 1st); The fertilizer crisis is continuing to aggravate in the public, leaving farmers helpless, and potentially affecting the country’s food supply. Although the Government continues to maintain its organic fertilizer policy, permission has been granted to import chemical fertilizer. However, the rising cost of imports has caused fertilizer prices to rise […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror According to food experts a rice shortage seems unavoidable Reportedly, 300,000 Metric Tons of Nadu and Samba are to be imported to address the rice shortage The price of one kilo of rice would be 200 rupees a kilo by March 1500 containers of food items such as sugar, milk powder, […]

Dr. C. S. Weeraratna Courtesy The Island Farmers protesting against the prevailing fertiliser shortage. (file photo) The importation of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides was banned by a Cabinet Memorandum, dated April 27, 2021, to promote the use of organic fertilizers and natural pesticides. As a result, inorganic fertilisers such as urea, Triple superphosphate, Muriate […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Farmers who use complete organic fertilizer for their crops are very rare in Sri Lanka Before this ban, the cost of fertilizer was about Rs.3,000 and now it’s Rs.9,000 If our food security is under threat, that becomes a national security issue Agriculture should be changed into a situation where the farmers have […]

උපුටාගැණීම අද දෙරණ පොහොර අර්බුදය මධ්‍යයේ වුවද පොළොන්නරුව පරාක්‍රම සමුද්‍රය සහ මින්නේරිය ගොවි ව්‍යාපාරවල වගා කටයුතු සාමාන්‍ය පරිදි සිදුකෙරෙන බව “අද දෙරණ” එහි කළ සංචාරයේදී අනාවරණ විය. එහෙත් මෙවර අපේක්ෂිත අස්වැන්න නොලැබෙන බවත් එළඹෙන කන්නයේදී රසායනික පොහොර නොලැබුණහොත් තමන් කුඹුරු වගා නොකරන බවත්  එම ගොවීන් පවසයි. පොළොන්නරුව දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ මෙම කන්නයට පෙර සාමාන්‍ය කන්නයකදී වගාකරන ලද […]

Courtesy ukr agroconsult Sri Lanka’s tea industry performed well in 2021 earning 1.3 billion U.S. dollars despite lower yields and higher costs of production, state media reported on Thursday. Chairman of the Sri Lanka Tea Board Jayampathy Molligoda was quoted by the state-owned Daily News as saying that Sri Lanka earned approximately 1.3 billion U.S. […]