Sri Lanka reverses organic farming drive as tea suffers
Posted on October 19th, 2021
Courtesy France24
Colombo (AFP)
Sri Lanka on Tuesday backed down from ambitious plans to become the world’s first completely organic farming nation, reversing a ban on imports of chemical fertiliser.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had imposed a total ban on agrochemicals in May, saying he wanted to make Sri Lankan farming 100 percent organic.
Plantations Minister Ramesh Pathirana said Tuesday that the change of course was to help growers of Ceylon tea, exports of which are worth $1.3 billion annually for the island nation.