Plantation expert slams ‘politicisation of science’ by two administrations

By Sanath Nanayakkare

Science was a major casualty in two key agricultural policy decisions made by the previous Yahapalana and the current governments, which on both occasions brought disastrous consequences to the agriculture sector, says Dr. Roshan Rajadurai, Managing Director of the Plantation Sector of Hayleys PLC which comprise Kelani Valley Plantations, Talawakelle Tea Estates and Horana Plantations recently.

Issuing a press statement, he slammed the previous Yahapalana government’s suspension of glyphosate imports and the current government’s decision to ban the import and the use of synthetic fertilisers with a sudden passion for transforming Sri Lanka into a nation with 100% organic agriculture.

Citing the fate of Prof. Buddhi Marambe, he said: “The nation’s best agricultural experts are being ignored or sidelined and silenced because Marambe had simply stated scientific facts regarding the current agro-chemical ban. Marambe had been consistent in doing so when the occasion demanded; he had previously spoken up against the Yahapalana government’s disastrous decision to suspend glyphosate imports.”

“Suspension on glyphosate imports was a policy decision, which resulted in the rejection of Sri Lankan tea exports as a result of issues with Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs), and caused the permanent loss of extremely high value markets in Japan, and it proved costly: all without a single shred of scientific evidence being considered to assess the lasting damage it would have caused. As a result, the government of the day was compelled to back-pedal its decision, but not without irreversible damage being done,” he claimed.

Referring to the chemical fertiliser ban imposed by the current government, he said “Without any prior planning or notice, our entire sector has been coerced into blindly participating in the most unscientific experiment ever attempted in Sri Lanka’s history. Now we are all left to anticipate what the implications of an immediate, nation-wide halt to all established and essential best practices relating to plant nutrition, pest, fungus and weeds would be.”

“Almost seven months from the current government’s initial decision to ban the import and use of synthetic fertilizers and as at today, Sri Lanka’s entire agriculture and plantation economy is still frantically in search of any viable option to mitigate the threat of declining yields.” he said.

“We are told that arrangements are being made to import organic fertiliser from various, untested sources, and agreements are minted to produce organic fertiliser locally, much akin to attempting to fix the engine troubles on an airplane while it is in flight. Nevertheless, the inconvenient truth is at present, all supplies of ‘organic’ and inorganic fertiliser are in short supply.”

“Stocks which are available, have increased in price owing to supply-demand imbalances, disrupted supply chains and unprecedented increases in landed costs. Such escalating payments are making Sri Lankan tea’s already high cost of production (COP) even higher, which is placing Sri Lankan plantations under further stress. This is happening just a few months after an increase in worker wages was thrust through the Wages Board.”

” With the end of the year approaching, and the window for fertilising crops closing, it appears that the industry will be locked into at least one – if not more – growth cycles without basic nutrients of Nitrogen, Potassium, and Phosphorus, and with no ability to control pests and weeds. Without immediate solutions, the broad consensus among those with expertise is that we could see exponentially worse crop losses starting from the end of 2021, hitting approximately 40% by next year.”

“If RPCs had disregarded agronomic practices and norms in such a manner on their own volition, it would have been called ‘criminal mismanagement’. With agricultural best practices now being roundly ignored in favour of a largely undefined and unplanned strategy for transforming Sri Lanka into a nation with “100% organic agriculture”, this historic, and intentionally misinformed self-sabotage is being repackaged as visionary and progressive. Regardless of short-term political expediency, reality has a way of asserting itself,” he said.

Referring to the negative impact on employment, he said, “Spread across 14 districts, the tea industry alone provides direct employment to over 600,000 people engaged in cultivation and processing and indirect employment to a further 200,000 involved in the supply chain. The sector provides complete livelihood support for a resident population of one million in Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) and 450,000 tea smallholders with one million dependents, hence supporting a total population of nearly 2.5 million.”

“When considering both employment and livelihood generation, it is estimated that the industry sustains more than 10% of our national population and its net foreign exchange earnings are only second to the garment industry.”

“Even if “organic” fertilliser is made available, there are still serious concerns as to whether it can provide sufficient nutrients. Hence, it appears that the writing is on the wall. With insufficient nutrients as a result of the unplanned push for organic, we anticipate a series of cascading failures stemming from a collapse in productivity. No amount of rhetoric will be able to turn back the tide of negative repercussions of such developments.”

“The only measure that could at least temporarily mitigate this dynamic is the implementation of productivity linked wages. This is a model which has the support of all RPCs, and which has been widely practiced with tremendous success by tea smallholders.”

“If there’s any resistance to it, that’s not from workers who have experience with productivity linked wages, but from Trade Unions who would lose their relevance if such models were implemented. Under the proposals made by RPCs workers could earn between Rs. 37,000 and Rs 62,000 and the model would enable workers to choose flexi-hours. Given the labour shortages prevalent across the entire tea industry, such a move would at long last incentivize workers effectively, and reward them for achieving their full individual potential, thereby significantly optimising labour productivity.

“However, without a scientific resolution to the fertiliser crisis, wage reforms can only serve as a stop gap measure. As land productivity drops, RPCs, state plantations and smallholders alike will be forced to reduce the amount of work offered, leading to a continuous decrease in worker earnings,” he said.

Dr. Roshan Rajadurai was also a former chairman of the Planters’ Association of Ceylon with 36 years of experience in the plantation sector.