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Private sector assistance will be sought to educate farmers throughout the island on the effective use of fertilser in cultivations, a senior official of the Agriculture, Forestry, Food and Co-operative Ministry told the Daily News.

The Department of Agriculture will jointly launch training programs with private sector institutions including fertiliser distributors targeting farmers in rice growing areas who use chemical fertiliser in their cultications, the official said.

"The use of chemical fertiliser has significantly increased during the last five to seven years among farmers. This was due to the Government decision to re-commence the fertiliser subsidy program in 1994 which, had been terminated since 1989. The continuation of providing the fertiliser subsidy has largely contributed to the increased rice yields during the last couple of years," the official said.

However, he said the increased chemical fertiser use among farmers has not improved the productivity up to expected levels and therefore, farmers should be provided training in using chemical fertiliser.

"The chemical fertiliser is mainly used to increase the productivity of lands which have become infertile due to cultivation over prolonged periods of time. However, farmers tend to use chemical fertiliser excessively. This practice is ineffective and a waste of money. "We have planned to train farmers to use chemical fertiliser along with organic fertiliser. They will also be educated on methods of land preparation and pest control," the official said.

He said as a result of recommencing the fertiliser subsidy program rice yields have increased from 2.06 million metric tons in 1996 to 2.86 million in 2000.

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