Lankan Agriculture at crossroads?

By Lasitha Duminda

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa undoubtedly would leave a legacy behind three critical decisions he has made.

• Rapid Vaccination carried out and ongoing with one of the world’s best percentage of population covered (As of Oct 6, fully vaccinated is 54.6% and at least one dose is 66.7%) is one.

• Renewable energy drive currently underway to generate as much as 70% of the nation’s power requirement from renewable sources which is another revolution making Sri Lanka a catalyst towards a greener world and putting the name of our country on top of the list of most countries if not all.

• Carbonic agriculture is the third bold initiative taken amidst all odds gaining lot of global praise for the President and Sri Lanka.

There were lot of quarters who wanted to sabotage all above ground breaking initiatives spending lot of time and effort to discredit Gotabaya Rajapaksa regime. It is not a secret that the opposition is not coming simply from the opposition. Currently the one that is at the biggest risk is converting Sri Lanka to organic farming that would pave the way for a healthier nation void of lot of diseases such as chronic kidney complications and cancer.

The threat seems to be not coming only from the chemical fertilizer associated mafia so to say. The amount of negative publicity given in media and the amount of people involved in the sabotage mission clearly suggests that it has become more or less a geopolitical operation.

The Chinese samples are getting rejected leaving lot of gaps in the credibility aspect of such reports to a level the matter getting referred to even the criminal investigation department.

Surprisingly, these reports reach media even before they are ready. Ironically so many different labs both in Sri Lanka and overseas report contradictory results. Sri Lankan authorities that claim the presence of certain harmful bacteria, are not willing to get the legitimate samples attested by independent international laboratories.

Yet another interesting point is the absence of any kind of intervention by the Chinese Diplomatic mission in Sri Lanka letting the people to believe that it is the Chinese that are behind the contamination of fertilizer.

India on the other hand, emerged all of a sudden short circuiting the available procurement process and becoming the favorites of the agencies responsible for the application of organic fertilizer with no knowledge of the public as to how Indian companies entered the procurement process while the contract between the Chinese supplier and the government is still valid.

Public has the right to know as to who is playing what? Who wants to discredit the President and fail him? Is it only the people in the frontline or have they become a cat’s paw for someone else? If so, who is it actually behind this game changer?

If Chinese are innocent, why are they not coming forward to prove their innocence or is someone deliberately blocking that process?

Mr. President, this is worth of your immediate attention as it is the food security of Sri Lanka is at compromise otherwise with the ‘Maha’ season approaching within a matter of few weeks.