Yala season to receive home-grown fertilisers
Sri Lanka is planning to depend on its local suppliers at present for the Yala season in providing the required fertiliser for organic paddy farming. However any imported stocks will have to submit to tests in line with the local requirements, an agricultural official said.
If Sri Lanka is to import the organic fertiliser from the Qingdao Biotech Fertiliser company they will have to be validated by the tests carried out in Sri Lanka. As long as it is going to be plant origin and it covers the National Plant Quarantine Services (NPQS) requirements then “we have to stick to the same standard”, Agriculture Department Director General Dr. Ajantha De Silva told the Business Times.
He noted that so far they have not been informed of any imported organic fertilisers being brought into the country.
State Fertiliser Minister Shashendra Rajapakse had reportedly stated that the Chinese fertiliser company would provide the required organic fertiliser for which they had already paid for and that it will be subject to sample testing both in Sri Lanka and through an international laboratory as well.
In the meantime, the department has already given the required recommendation and guidelines for the Yala season and it has been suggested to apply granular, bio fertiliser and liquid fertilisers to address the Nitrogen requirement, Dr. De Silva said.
He noted that the Phosphorous requirement will be met from the Eppawala rock phosphate minerals and imports of potassium.
The Nitrogen will be obtained from the local suppliers that need to provide composted fertiliser with the nitrogen content more than 1.5 per cent and liquid containing nitrogen 107 and the National Fertilizer Secretariat is currently engaged in this exercise, Dr. De Silva explained.
Commenting on the quality of the locally manufactured organic fertilisers, he noted that there are standards that everyone has to conform to. “I can’t blindly say everyone is providing really good fertiliser but some are doing a good job that is why there are standards.”
Reacting to the yield loss in the Maha season it was pointed out that if the right amount of nutrients is provided to the plant “by any means” then there will not be any yield loss during the Yala season.
He pointed out that last time there was a yield loss since the required nutrients were not provided at the right time.
This season, the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) will be assisting the agricultural sector by carrying out the distribution and training of the required nutrients and their use to the farmers. “One of the problems we had in the last season was that the fertilisers did not reach the farmers on time,” he said. As a result in this respect, the SLA can support the process.
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