President Gotabaya Rajapaksa yesterday instructed officials to find immediate solutions to address issues faced by farmers relating to the supply, distribution and use of fertilizer.
The President also noted that the natural composition of the soil has been drastically changed due to excessive use of chemical fertilizer through the years and spoke of the importance of shifting towards organic fertilizer by gradually decreasing the usage of chemical fertilizer.
He instructed the officials to pay special attention to the production of organic fertilizer according to relevant standards and to find out the varieties of crops that will grow fast using organic fertilizer and evaluate progress achieved by using organic fertilizer.
Agriculture Department officials and Provincial Governors preset at the meeting pointed out that restrictions on agri imports, increase in the usage of lands for vegetable, fruits and grain cultivation are some of the contributory factors for the high demand for fertilizer.
Governor of the Northern Province Ms. P. S. M. Charles said that with farmers in the North preferring the use of organic fertilizer, the harvest is higher both in quality and quantity.
Minister Chamal Rajapaksa, Provincial Governors, Secretary to the President P.B. Jayasundera, Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture Major General (Retd) Sumedha Perera and several other officials were present during the meeting.
