Opinion

Banning fertilisers to bring it through black market?

Published

4 years ago

2021/06/8

By Prof. Chandre Dharmawardana, Canada

Food and land for growing food are THE basic foundation of life. Whether it be early marauding tribes or colonial invaders, their expeditions were propelled by their needs of nourishment and raw materials. However, scientific advances have now shown how to feed the whole world with very little land and water, freeing vast areas of farmland back to nature if technologies going beyond the green revolution are adopted.

Unfortunately, it is a myth that ‘life was better in the past’. The lost Garden of Eden, the reign of the Maha-Sammatha dynasties, the Golden Age of ancient Greece, Rousseau’s Noble Savage of Enlightenment philosophy or Marx and Engels’ nostalgic but false descriptions of early farming communities, all paint pictures of healthy idyll prior to the “corruption wrought by industrialisation”.

This has even morphed into public fear-mongering by individuals who believe that the food we eat is poisoned. Modern advances in agriculture have greatly reduced the impact of famines even in Africa. Advances in public health has removed infectious diseases. A life expectancy below 50 years in the 1940s when people eat traditional food has become almost 80 in Sri Lanka today. Infant mortality has dropped from 10% to less than 2%.

However, sedentary lifestyles have become the norm, especially among the “elites” whose refrigerators are full of sugary fatty food. “takeout” foods, e.g., Biriyani, Pizza, or “kothtu”, may contain unhealthy ingredients and used compromised cooking oils. That is how Lankans eat some poison in their food. But take-outs, or even the soil and water DO NOT contain significant amounts of bioavailable toxins originating in fertilisers used to grow crops. Where is the data to implicate fertilisers?

Nevertheless, these elites are CERTAIN that fertilisers are a danger to human health! The President has stated that governments must not hesitate to adopt bold policies to protect human health. Others dispute the rapidity of the ban, but erroneously claim that a gradual move to ‘organic’ is ESSENTIAL for health and ‘sustainability’!

Some media publicise ‘opinion makers’ who sell the idea that the food eaten by the consumer IS POISONED. The Department of Agriculture with its world-renowned track record has been sidelined! These media feature ‘scientists’ who say that their grandparents ate wholesome food, and unlike today, DID NOT have cancers, dementias and obesities. Discarding all available statistics, the ancients are said to have lived to 148 years by a GMOA medical specialist” (see https://dh-web.org/green/padeniyamay21Sinhala.html) .

The ancients are said to have had plenty of food. Egypt was called the ‘granary of the ancient world’. Lanka was said to be the ‘granary of the orient’, while Panchananda’ (modern Panjab) was claimed to be the granary of the whole world by ancient writers. These are all half-truths that hide the monstrous malnourishment and periodic famines integral to life prior to the rise of modern agriculture.

Malnourishment is THE MOTHER OF ALL ILLNESSES, and sapped the health of ancients who fell easy prey to infections that had no cures in traditional herbal medicine. But all these well-established facts are thrown aside. A former Speaker of Parliament, minsters and public figures including medical doctors have made the claim that Sri Lankans have been eating poison in their food. Not surprisingly, there are academics ready to support the canard for political gain, or they are so uncritical as to believe the half truths. One wonders if ‘agriculturalists’ who claim that imported oranges have no vitamin C, while the ‘Bibile’ oranges (‘paeni dodan’) alone have Vitamin C, or misidentify a sorghum plant, are wittingly exploiting the credulity of the public?

The proposed ban suggests using the local ‘Eppawala’ Rock phosphate (ERP). This contains similar amounts of toxins as in imported mineral fertilisers. Although low in cadmium impurities, Gunawardena et al report in the National Science Foundation journal that ERP has 23-27 mg of arsenic per kg of ERP. Mining and converting ERP to triphosphate has a high cost and environmental impact. It is cheaper and cleaner to import it. A lot of false propaganda claim that mineral fertilisers contain metal toxins, but the fact remains that even the worst of them, say the Nauri phosphate from New Zealand, adds only virtually UNDETECTABLE amounts of, say, As or Cd to the soil even if 10 times the recommended amount of fertiliser are ploughed into a hectare of soil, to a depth of the plough blade (see: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-018-0140-x). The danger of excess use is NOT from the traces of metal toxins, but from the phosphate itself, as its runoff leads to the pollution of aquatic bodies. That is not poison in your plate.

Compost is NOT a fertiliser but a soil remedying agent. It is made by composting farm refuse, animal droppings and such ‘natural’ or leafy products. Fertilisers are supposed to provide essential elements for plant growth. The principal elements are nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) while tiny amounts of other nutrients are also needed. As compost does NOT have significant amounts of N, P, and K, substantial amounts of bone meal (‘gerikatu’) were also used. The cultivation was done in newly burnt forest lands, i.e., ‘Chenas’ where the ash provided some N, P and K. After a few years the spent Chena was abandoned and a newly burnt forest, i.e., a new Chena was used. The compost provided ‘humus’ (carbon material, ‘black earth’) to the soil, making a sandy or clay soil habitable to soil organisms. So, compost is NOT A FERTILIZER. It is mainly a soil REMEDYING agent, adding carbon and microorganisms to soils. Extremely polluted industrial soils are more efficiently remedied using microbe-enhanced biochar (a form of activated carbon) rather than compost. Compost is not the only soil remedying substance used. Dolomite, limestone or wood ash may be used to remedy acidic soils.

Lanka spends close to 40 billion and imports some 1.3 million metric tons of fertiliser per year (http://www.agrimin.gov.lk/web/index.php/en/news-and-events/1492-2021-02-02). One tonne of compost made in the tropics may contain 1-2% N or P while the imported mineral fertiliser contains 40-50% of P. So, replacing mineral fertiliser with compost will require trucks to move some 130 million metric tons of it within the country, burning fossil fuel. Since about ten tonnes of waste material are needed per ton of product, the industry must transport and process 1.3 billion tonnes of farm waste and urban garbage. The local compost will exceed the cost of imported fertilisers by over 100 times.

However, all this is based on the ERRONEOUS ASSUMPTION that compost is a fertiliser. Compost, with a mere 1-2% of the macro-nutrients is only a SOIL REMEDYING AGENT. If compost is given back its proper job, then the amount of compost needed falls back to manageable amounts as indicated in, say, the booklets issued by the Department of Agriculture for the 25 districts.

Politicians and emperors driven by mistaken ideologies have caused starvation and misery in the past. Given the certainty of government spokesmen that Lankans ‘must be rescued from eating poison’ by converting agriculture to ‘organic fertilisers’, what chance has the country to save itself? When unworkable polices are imposed on a populace, although there will be much misery, an unseen underground economy will provide the populace with its needs, but at a price. Well-connected crooks will make money! Although a benign herbicide was banned by the Sirisena government, one of its own minsters who appeared on TV openly admitted that he too used black-market glyphosate for his 30 hectares of tea!

The news of a ban has already caused fertilisers to disappear from the market. A well-connected ‘mafia’ will move in to make the urea and mineral fertilisers available in the black market, miraculously! They may appear under the label of ‘organic’ fertilisers, but having incredibly high levels of N, P, and K, perhaps ‘made by a traditional method used by King Raaavana’, or revealed by ‘Natha Deviyo’ himself. The GMOA doctor who claimed that ancient Lankans lived to 148 years (quoting Pliny the Elder) may claim that Lankans no longer eat poison as they eat ‘organic food’ (and drink bottled spring-water straight from Lake Anothaptha?). Will they live to 148 years?

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Opinion

HW Cave saw Nanu Oya – Nuwara rail track as “exquisite”

Published

8 hours ago

2025/03/16

Thilina Walpola

Plans to resurrect the Nanu Oya – Nuwara Eliya rail track are welcome. The magnificent views from the train have been described by H W Cave in his book The Ceylon Government Railway (1910):

‘The pass by which Nuwara Eliya is reached is one of the most exquisite things in Ceylon. In traversing its length, the line makes a further ascent of one thousand feet in six miles. The curves and windings necessary to accomplish this are the most intricate on the whole railway and frequently have a radius of only eighty feet. On the right side of the deep mountain gorge we ascend amongst the tea bushes of the Edinburgh estate, and at length emerge upon a road, which the line shares with the cart traffic for about a mile. In the depths of the defile flows the Nanuoya river, foaming amongst huge boulders of rock that have descended from the sides of the mountains, and bordered by tree ferns, innumerable and brilliant trees of the primeval forest which clothe the face of the heights. In this land of no seasons their stages of growth are denoted by the varying tints of scarlet, gold, crimson, sallow green, and most strikingly of all, a rich claret colour, the chief glory of the Keena tree’.

However, as in colonial times, the railway should be available for both tourists and locals so that splendid vista can be enjoyed by all.

Dr R P Fernando
Epsom,
UK

Opinion

LG polls, what a waste of money!

Published

3 days ago

2025/03/13

Sahan Weerasooriya

If the people of this country were asked whether they want elections to the local government, majority of them would say no! How many years have elapsed since the local councils became defunct? And did not the country function without these councils that were labelled as ‘white elephants’?

If the present government’s wish is to do the will of the people, they should reconsider having local government elections. This way the government will not only save a considerable amount of money on holding elections, but also save even a greater amount by not having to maintain these local councils, which have become a bane on the country’s economy.

One would hope that the country will be able to get rid of these local councils and revert back to the days of having competent Government Agents and a team of dedicated government officials been tasked with the responsibility of attending to the needs of the people in those areas.

M. Joseph A. Nihal Perera

Opinion

What not to do

Published

4 days ago

2025/03/12

Sahan Weerasooriya

Trump and Zelensky arguing in the White House

By Dr Upul Wijayawardhana

It is immaterial whether you like him or not but one thing is crystal clear; Donald Trump has shown, very clearly, who is the boss. Surely, presidents of two countries are equal; perhaps, that is the impression Volodymyr Zelensky had when he went to the White House to meet Trump but the hard reality, otherwise, would have dawned on him with his inglorious exit! True, the behaviour of President Trump and VP Vance were hardly praiseworthy but Zelensky did what exactly he should not do. Afterall, he was on a begging mission and beggars cannot be choosers! He behaved like professional beggars in Colombo who throw money back when you give a small amount!!

Despite the risk of belonging to the minority, perhaps of non-Americans, I must say that I quite like Trump and admire him as a straight-talking politician. He keeps to his words; however atrocious they sound! Unfortunately, most critics overlook the fact that what Trump is doing is exactly what he pledged during his election campaign and that the American voters elected him decisively. When he lost to Biden, all political commentators wrote him off, more so because of his refusal to admit defeat and non-condemnation of his supporters who rioted. When he announced his intention to contest, it only evoked pundits’ laughter as they concluded that the Republican Party would never nominate him. Undaunted, Trump got the party to rally round him and won a non-consecutive second term; a feat achieved only once before, by Grover Cleveland around the end of the nineteenth century. His victory, against all predictions, was more decisive as he got more collegiate votes and, even though it does not matter, won the popular vote too which he did not get when he got elected the first term. Even his bitterest critics should accept this fact.

Zelensky was elected the president of Ukraine after the elected pro-Soviet president was deposed by a ‘peoples revolution’ engineered by the EU with the support of USA. After this, the EU attempted to bring Ukraine to NATO, disregarding the Munich agreement which precipitated the Russian invasion. He should have realised that, if not for the air-defence system which Trump authorised for Ukraine during his first term, Russian invasion would have been complete. It may well be that he was not aware as when this happened Zelensky may still have been the comedian acting the part of the president! Very likely, Trump was referring to this when he accused Zelensky of being ungrateful.

Zelensky also should have remembered that he disregarded requests from Trump, after his defeat by Biden, to implicate Biden’s son in some shady deals in Ukraine and that one of the last acts of Biden was to pardon his son and grant immunity to cover the alleged period. Perhaps, actions of the European leaders who embrace him every time they see him, as a long-lost brother, and invitations to address their parliaments has induced an element of the superiority complex in Zelensky that he behaved so combative.

Trump wanted to be the mediator to stop the war and spoke to Putin first. Instead of waiting for Trump to speak to him, egged on by EU leaders Zelensky started criticising Trump for not involving him in the talks. His remark “He should be on our side” demonstrated clearly that Zelensky had not understood the role of a mediator. His lack of political experience was the major reason for the fiasco in the White House and the subsequent actions of Trump clearly showed Zelensky where he stands! PM Starmer and President Macron seem to have given some sensible advice and he seems to be eating humble pie. In the process Trump has ensured that the European nations pay for their defence than piggy-backing on the US, which I am sure would please the American voter. By the way, though Macron talks big about defence France spends less than 2% of GDP. Trump seems vindicated. Of course, Trump could be blamed for being undiplomatic but he can afford to be as he has the upper hand!

Ranil on Al Jazeera

Zelensky has shown what not to do: instead of being diplomatic being aggressive when you need favours! Meanwhile, Ranil has shown what not to do when it comes to TV interviews. God only knows who advised him, and why, for him to go ‘Head to Head’ with Mehdi Hasan on Al-Jazeera. Perhaps, he wanted to broadcast to the world that he was the saviour of Sri Lanka! The experienced politician he is, one would have expected Ranil to realise that he would be questioned about his role in making Sri Lanka bankrupt as well, in addition to raising other issues.

The interview itself was far from head to head; more likely heads to head! It turned out to be an inquisition by Tiger supporters and the only person who spoke sense being Niraj Deva, who demonstrated his maturity by being involved in British and EU politics. The worst was the compere who seems keen to listen his own voice, reminding me of a Sinhala interviewer on a YouTube channel whose interviews I have stopped watching!

Ranil claims, after the interview was broadcast, that it had been heavily edited reduced from a two-hour recording. Surely, despite whatever reason he agreed to, he should have laid ground rules. He could have insisted on unedited broadcast or his approval before broadcast, if it was edited. It was very naïve of Ranil to have walked in to a trap for no gain. Though his performance was not as bad as widely reported, he should have been more composed at the beginning as he turned out to be later. Overall, he gave another opportunity for the Tiger rump and its supporters to bash Sri Lanka, unfortunately.

Medhi Hasan should watch some of David Frost interviews, especially the one with Richard Nixon, and learn how to elicit crucial information in a gentle exploratory manner than shouting with repeated interruptions. He does not seem to think it is necessary to give time for the interviewee to respond to his questions. I will never watch Al-Jazeera’s “Head to Head” again!

Ranil’s best was his parting shot; when asked by Hasan whether he would contest the next presidential election, he said “No, I will retire and watch Al-Jazeera and hope to see you better mannered”!