The Sri Lankan government has ended restrictions on the import of agrochemicals, including fertilizers, according to a report by India’s The Hindu newspaper, relinquishing its ambitions to become the world’s first completely organic food producer.
According to the report, the lifting of the ban, announced Nov. 21, is with immediate effect.
The Sri Lankan authorities in recent weeks already had relaxed restrictions on imports of certain chemical fertilizers, such as ammonium sulfate, for the production of tea, the country’s main export revenue earner (GM Oct. 22, p. 35). The move followed concerns from Sri Lankan tea producers about the falling quality of the tea produced.
Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa implemented an immediate ban on chemical fertilizer imports in April, in pursuit of the strategy to see the country become the world’s first 100 percent organic food producer (GM May 7, p. 42). Critics claimed the decision was driven primarily by the need to address the country’s foreign exchange crisis.
On Nov. 21, Agriculture Ministry Secretary Udith Jayasinghe told the private News First television network that the government will now allow chemical inputs “that are urgently needed” and “considering the need to ensure food security, we have taken this decision,” according to the report by The Hindu.
He said permission has been given to import fertilizer for all export crops, such as tea, rubber, and coconut, and also specialist fertilizer for greenhouse cultivations.
However, there is some confusion whether the import ban has been lifted for all fertilizers.
According to an EconomyNext report, citing an unnamed “top official,” the lifting of the ban on chemical fertilizers is “a progressive one,” and the official denied chemical fertilizer imports would be allowed for paddy and vegetables.
But it is understood the government has ended a broader ban on agrochemicals such as on herbicides and pesticides.
In the months since the presidential decree to limit the country’s fertilizer imports to only organic fertilizers and feedstocks to produce organic fertilizers, such as ammonia and other liquid nitrogen, the Sri Lankan authorities have waffled over the ban (GM Aug. 6, p. 38). Last month, for instance, the first shipment of Nano Urea Liquid arrived from India as part of a deal to import a total of 3.1 million liters of the product for use in the cultivation of maize and rice (GM Oct. 22, p. 35).
Sri Lanka imported a total of 659,000 mt of all fertilizers in 2020. Imports for the first half of this year were 197,000 mt, down about 30 percent compared to the same period last year at 279,000 mt, according to Trade Data Monitor.
Urea accounts for the bulk of the country’s fertilizer imports, totaling 540,049 mt in 2020. In the first 10 months of 2021 through end-October, urea imports were almost half those of the same prior-year period, at 161,001 mt versus 318,373 mt, according to Trade Data Monitor data.