Organic fertiliser as an option
VERY judiciously, the State is now
emphasising the need for organic fertiliser as opposed to chemical
fertiliser. No less a body than the Economic Council has recommended the
wider use of organic fertiliser and a person of no less an importance
than the President has endorsed this directive.
These assessments were made in the course of discussions centring on
the implementation of the Government's 10 year development programme, in
which agricultural development wins adequate emphasis.
It is now amply clear that the continuous use of chemical fertiliser
in our soil generates a plethora of ills, such as the destruction of the
soil's richness and the penetration of agricultural produce by chemicals
inimical to human health.
Besides, there is the all-important cost factor. Dependence on
imported chemical fertilisers consumes considerable foreign exchange and
results in a draining of the country's financial resources.
Seen from all these points of view, therefore, it is best that Sri
Lanka depends more and more on organic fertiliser, which utilizes local
organic resources and does not incur any heavy expenditure on the part
of the State Exchequer.
These issues need to be deliberated on in a major way and the
necessary policy decisions taken along with the elaboration of an
implementation strategy.
Very obviously, agriculture extension services play a considerable
role in the popularisation of organic fertiliser among our farming
population who make-up the bulk of the rural population.
The products of Research and Development, in other words, should be
taken to the paddy fields and the rural farms and the State would need
to figure out how effectively this could be done and how soon.
These issues need to be addressed on a priority basis in view of the
important role agriculture plays in the country's economy.
Today the Services sector has far outstripped the agriculture sector
as chief contributor to the GNP but there is more than meets the eye in
the statistics which are usually put out in support of this or that
point of view.
What is of importance is the sustained development of the country's
production base and agriculture plays an important role here. We are
bound to have rising inflation as long as the production of goods and
services proves stagnant and slow.
Therefore, the agriculture sector needs to be revitalized and kept
ticking and organic fertiliser would play an important role in its
sustenance and profitability.
In such ventures the Ministry of Agriculture and connected State
agencies would need to team up with the Science and Technology Ministry,
which is engaged in a major effort at popularising science among the
people.
The farming population of Sri Lanka should be schooled in the skills
of manufacturing and using organic fertiliser and there is no doubt that
all these Ministries could work jointly in this sphere.
Besides the Ministry of Science and Technology the universities need
to also be coopted into these programmes because of the crucial role
agricultural extension services play in taking the results of Research
and Development to the people.
Bio-gas is today a relatively popular energy-saving option and the
same could be done for organic fertiliser.
Graduates in Agriculture, for instance, could be trained as
agriculture extension officers besides seeking out qualified personnel
in our Schools of Agriculture.
An agricultural revival would play a pivotal role in poverty
alleviation besides expanding our production base and one of the most
effective ways of making farming profitable is to bring down production
costs by going in a big way for inputs such as organic fertiliser. |
India helps build power project in Sampur
ALREADY several power projects are in full swing.
Norochcholai and Upper Kotmale power projects have been commissioned
as long-term solutions to the crisis. Once the Norochcholai 1st
stage is completed in 2011 it will contribute 300 MW to the national
grid until the second and third phases will come into effect in 2015
increasing its total generating capacity to 900 MW.
 Full Story
Life at Lake House
ANCL Founder's Day falls on February 23:
LAKE HOUSE was now the outward and visible sign
of Wijewardene's success, as a newspaper publisher. The architect,
Small, of Adams and Small, had designed it as a modern building but,
in accordance with the wishes of the proprietor, introduced
decorative motifs from traditional architecture such as moonstones,
lotuses, swans and a concrete hood in the place of the eaves.
Full Story
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