Colombo, June 2
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa of fertiliser supplies to help the debt-ridden country avert severe food shortages caused by crop losses and exacerbated by the worst economic crisis, the President’s office said on Thursday.
President Rajapaksa, while speaking with a group of irrigation officials on the next harvesting season’s requirements, said Prime Minister Modi asserted that the supplies would be delivered for the next cultivation season.
He said the fertilised supplies, to be delivered under the Indian Line of Credit, would be distributed within 20 days after the consignment reached Colombo.
Sri Lanka is aiming to boost its agriculture sector to avoid any disruption in the agriculture market following the drop in paddy cultivation during the maha season. Yala is the season of paddy cultivation in Sri Lanka that lasts between May and August.
The Sri Lankan government banned chemical fertilisers last year as part of a phased transition towards organic agriculture. The dearth of adequate supplies of organic fertilisers affected agricultural output, especially rice and tea, and caused a food shortage with crop losses amounting to 50 per cent.
Rajapaksa, a few weeks ago, admitted that his decision to ban chemical fertilisers to go 100 per cent organic was wrong.
The agriculturists have warned that the country may encounter a food shortage by mid-August in the ongoing economic crisis.
Last month, India assured Sri Lanka to immediately supply 65,000 metric tonnes of urea to avoid any disruption in paddy cultivation.
The Government of India decided to supply this quantity of urea immediately to Sri Lanka at the request of the Government of Sri Lanka, despite a ban on the export of urea from India, the Sri Lankan High Commission had said in a statement.
Sri Lanka is aiming to boost its agriculture sector to avoid any disruption in the agriculture market following the drop in paddy cultivation during the maha season.
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