Potassium chloride fertiliser is organic – Agri Ministry

The 30,000MT of potassium chloride fertiliser imported to Sri Lanka from Lithuania is a type of fertiliser of mineral origin certified by the Director General of Agriculture, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday (14).

However, one of the top rice scientists told Ceylon Today, although the fertiliser is of a mineral origin, it is not organic and that chloride is a chemical. The Ministry of Agriculture called for a tender for US$ 13.9 million worth fertiliser import and the tender was awarded to a company in Singapore named Agricultural Resources and Investments PTE Ltd., to provide the fertiliser and Lithuania had exported the fertiliser to the Singapore company.

Director General of the Department of Agriculture, Dr. Ajantha de Silva, has confirmed that the potassium chloride fertiliser imported to Sri Lanka for this Maha season is a fertiliser of pure mineral origin. He also emphasises the use of this fertiliser is very suitable for organic farming. The Director General has quoted that there was ‘misinformation’ being spread on social media regarding the 30,000 MT capacity potassium chloride and it was in fact an organic fertiliser imported to Sri Lanka from Lithuania.

Commenting on this, Professor, Faculty of Soil and Agriculture, Sabaragamuwa University and Chairman of the Ministry Committee on Sustainable Agriculture, Prof. VI Yapa, points out that the imported Potassium Chloride organic fertiliser is produced from the earth’s mineral resources like the Eppawala phosphate fertiliser. Therefore, to describe this fertiliser as a chemical fertiliser is a statement made due to a misunderstanding, it was revealed.

(Source: Ceylon Today – By Sulochana Ramiah Mohan)