INTERNATIONAL DESK: India is working on a proposal to supply fertilisers worth $55 million to Sri Lanka ahead of sowing season in the island nation as part of efforts to boost the local economy undergoing its worst crisis ever since independence.
Last week while speaking with a group of irrigation officials on the next harvesting season’s requirements, Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured him of fertiliser supplies.
He said the supplies, to be delivered under the Indian Line of Credit, would be distributed within 20 days after the consignment reaches Colombo.
ET has learnt that the Indian government is working on the Lankan proposal and internal approvals are being finalised. Sri Lanka is aiming to boost its agriculture sector to avoid any disruption in the agriculture market. Yala is the season of paddy cultivation in Sri Lanka that lasts between May and August.
The Sri Lankan government banned chemical fertilisers last year as part of a phased transition towards organic agriculture. The dearth of adequate supplies of organic fertilisers affected agricultural output, especially rice and tea, and caused a food shortage with crop losses amounting to 50% and this contributed towards the economic crisis.
The Rajapaksas, a few weeks ago, admitted that the decision to ban chemical fertilisers to go 100% organic was wrong. Last year, India twice came to Sri Lanka’s rescue by supplying nano nitrogen fertiliser after Colombo detected contamination in the organic fertiliser supplied by China. (The Economic Times)
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