President instructs officials to ensure steady supply of organic fertilisers

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Wednesday instructed officials to provide organic fertiliser required by paddy farmers for the ‘Maha’ Season without any shortage.

The President said all stakeholders must be considered when formulating a plan to provide fertiliser.

Issuing a press statement, the President’s Media Division said that in his “Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour” policy statement, the President had vouched for the people’s right to a non-toxic diet to create a healthy and productive citizen.

President Rajapaksa said that more organic fertilizers should be manufactured and until the country has the capacity to meet the demand; high quality organic fertilizer must be imported.

The president said that Fertilizer manufacturers have told him that the total amount of organic fertilizer required for agriculture can be produced locally within a few seasons.

“The government spends a large amount of funds annually to import chemical fertilizers. This amount can be used to encourage the production of organic fertilizer. Plans have been made to educate the Agricultural Instructors and Agricultural Research Officers at district level on the use of organic fertilizers. The Ministers in charge of the subject told me they had formulated the mechanism required to purchase organic fertilizer produced in all parts of the country by the National Fertilizer Secretariat and to distribute the fertilizer based on the type of crops including paddy that has been formulated.”

(Source: The Island)