Second sample, too, of fertiliser imports contains bacteria

Organic fertiliser samples imported from China for testing for a second time in Sri Lankan laboratories have once again proved to contain species harmful to plants.

Sources at the Agriculture Ministry confirmed to Times Online that the Bacillus species was detected on the organic fertiliser sample tested at the National Plant Quarantine Services (NPQS) of the Agriculture Department and at the University of Colombo (UoC). The Bacillus species is a group of bacterial species a majority of which could be harmful to animals and plants.

This was revealed at a meeting held yesterday at the Agriculture Ministry showing that the samples tested were found to be not sterile. Organic fertiliser imports need to be steriliaed according to the requirements of the Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI) 1704 specifications.

The latest samples of organic fertiliser were imported from China on Thursday by the National Fertilizer Secretariat and one sample each was sent for testing to the NPQS and the UoC. Further testing on the latest sample is continuing, it is learnt.

Sri Lankan authorities were hoping to import 96,000 MT of organic fertiliser from Qingdao Seawin Biotech company in China, the company that won the tender to send organic fertiliser, for distribution among farmers beginning with this Maha season which is already underway.

A test of the sample from this fertiliser consignment, done in China by an international lab was also found to contain impurities. (SD)