Sri Lanka spends Rs. six billion for chemical fertilizer annually

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Sri Lanka imports Rs 6 billion worth of chemical fertilizer to the country annually and the Government plans to curtail chemical imports by 25 percent in the next three years, Deputy Director (Research) and Executive Coordinator Ministry of Agricultural Development and Agrarian Services, Prof. Hemantha Wijewardena said.

A three year pilot project on organic fertilizer production and use, funded by the Treasury has been begun because it had been proved that use of chemical fertilizer alone cannot increase the yield in any crop.

Research and development activities are carried out at the Regional Agricultural Research and Development Centre in a 80 acre land at Gonawila Makandura in the Kurunegala District.

Under this program we will be promoting the integrated plant nutrition system especially for commercial level agriculture and plantation industries. In this program they promote the use of both organic and chemical fertilizer for commercial crops," Prof. Hemantha Wijewardena said.
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"Sri Lanka's soil is low in fertility because dry countries like Sri Lanka it is found that organic contain is very low due to the high soil erosion and the mis-management of soil by farmers. Therefore, to increase the fertility level in the soil organic fertilizer is the solution," he said.

Posted in Agriculture , Compost , Fertilizer , Government , Kurunegala District , Soil , Sri Lanka