A special meeting chaired by President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa will be convened today (22) at 10.30 am to take a decision regarding the re-importation of fertilizer including herbicides, insecticides and fungicides.
Relevant Ministers and State Ministers have been invited by the Presidential Secretariat for this meeting. Accordingly, a decision on the long term process regarding the fertilizer crisis is to be taken at this meeting.
President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s vision was to uplift agriculture by using organic fertilizers to obtain a higher price value for the yield of the farming community as well as to make the people healthier. However, there was no positive response from the farmers and protests with political incitement intensified the need for chemical fertilizers.
Minister of State Shashindra Rajapaksa says that the government hopes to go 100 percent organic farming in three seasons as it is not possible to go for organic farming all at once.
He told the media yesterday that the first and second seasons needed the support of herbicides, insecticides and fungicides.