Sajith calls for new sustainable agri strategy

COLOMBO (News 1st); Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa has raised concerns over a possible state agenda to turn agricultural lands in the country into barren lands and plunder them to multinational corporations, via the organic fertilizer frenzy.

The statement issued by the Leader of the Opposition further stated that by mixing the imported fertilizer in violation of the SLSI standards, the Plant Quarantine Act, etc., the entire ecosystem is at risk of being destroyed.

He points out that the importation of this fertilizer has created a new business elite and created a diplomatic crisis.

1/3rd of Sri Lanka's land is used for agriculture and 1/4th of the labor force is directly or indirectly involved in agriculture, while 1.8 million families are involved in paddy cultivation.

Sajith Premadasa points out that in a background where rice production has to be increased by 1 percent annually due to the growing population, the sudden transition to organic fertilizer is an attempt to mortgage the lives of all citizens for the dream of one person to become a world leader.

The Leader of the Opposition also recalled that by 2010 Sri Lanka was a country that could have been self-sufficient in rice.

By 2019, Sri Lanka was ranked 66th in the World Food Security Index, and he questioned the present fate of Sri Lanka adding there is a risk of a severe food shortage.

The Leader of the Opposition points out that a sustainable new agricultural program is needed for the benefit of the entire population.