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Severe global disruption of fertiliser supply; Lanka will be in a bind with mixed signals from govt. – MONLAR

Published

4 years ago

2022/03/5

By Rathindra Kuruwita

A severe global shortage of fertiliser in the coming years would seriously affect food prices that were already soaring across the world, moderator of the Movement for National Land and Agricultural Reform (MONLAR,) Chinthaka Rajapakshe said yesterday. He warned that substantial increase in food prices would always lead to social unrest.

Rajapakshe said that Russia and Belarus were among the two main exporters of fertiliser, and given that they would not be exporting fertiliser in large quantities in the near future with both being involved in the war in Ukraine, the government would not be able to import fertiliser for the coming farming season as promised.

“The Cabinet of Ministers have approved the import of Muriate of Potash (Potassium Chloride) fertiliser for the Yala Season. They are planning to import 38,500 metric tonnes of muriate of potash fertiliser. The Cabinet says it wants to bring fertiliser through an international competitive bidding system and provide it to the farmers under the government fertiliser subsidy programme. However, the problem is where the government will get the fertiliser from and whether it can give subsidies.”

Rajapakshe said that a metric tonne of urea will hit USD 1,000 and it will be virtually impossible for the government to subsidise fertiliser.

Another big problem was that the government had been giving mixed signals about the future of organic agriculture, Rajapakhe said. If the government was serious about reducing the cost of importing fertiliser it should work with farmers and introduce easy compost making methods. Instead, it allowed its cronies to mass-produce compost, and when that failed it sought to import organic fertiliser, the MONLAR Moderator asserted.

“The government implemented its organic drive without any planning or discussion. When farmers oppose this ad hoc decision, it promises to make chemical fertiliser available. Now, farmers are confused again. There are also a significant number of farmers who successfully carried out organic farming. Instead of learning from farmers who have been successful in incorporating organic methods and sharing them with others, the government is now promising chemical fertiliser,” Rajapakshe said.

However, it was obvious that the government would find it difficult to import adequate quantities of fertiliser and that would lead to another round of farmer discontent, Rajapakshe said. This is another example of the government and officials being unaware of global developments.

The MONLAR moderator said that even before the hostilities in Ukraine erupted, Russia had restricted the export of Urea by 50%. China, which is another major player in fertliser production, too has curbed its exports.

“With Russia, Belarus, and China minimising exports there will be fertiliser shortages across the world. The demand will go through the roof. Countries like India with closer relations with Russia and nations like Pakistan and Iran close to both Russia and China will get hold of the limited stocks that Russia, Belarus, and China will export. What will happen to us?” he asked.

The MONLAR moderator said that the crisis in agriculture was not limited to fertiliser. Successive governments didn’t provide any direction to the sector and given that the next five years would be extremely challenging, the country immediately needed to have a serious discussion about the future of agriculture and food security, he said.

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Landslide Early Warnings issued to the districts of Kandy and Nuwara Eliya extended

Published

11 hours ago

2026/02/14

Priyan

The landslide early warnings issued to the Districts of Kandy and Nuwara Eliya by the Landslide Early Warning Center of the National Building Research Organisation have been extended till 0600 hrs on 15th February 2026.

Accordingly,
The Level II [AMBER] warnings issued to the Divisional Secretaries Divisions and surrounding areas of Walapane and Nildandahinna in the Nuwar Eliya district and the
Level I [YELLOW] warning issued to the Divisional Secretaries Divisions and surrounding areas of Pathadumbara in the Kandy district have been extended.

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Advisory for Severe Lightning issued to the Western, Sabaragamuwa and Southern provinces and Badulla and Nuwara-Eliya districts

Published

12 hours ago

2026/02/14

Priyan

Advisory for Severe Lightning Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre at 11.30 a.m. 14 February 2026 valid for the period until 11.30 p.m. 14 February 2026

Thundershowers accompanied with severe lightning are likely to occur at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and Southern provinces and in Badulla and Nuwara-Eliya districts after 1.00 p.m. There may be temporary localized strong winds during thundershowers.

The General public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by lightning activity.

ACTION REQUIRED:

The Department of Meteorology advises that people should:
 Seek shelter, preferably indoors and never under trees.
 Avoid open areas such as paddy fields, tea plantations and open water bodies during thunderstorms.
 Avoid using wired telephones and connected electric appliances during thunderstorms.
 Avoid using open vehicles, such as bicycles, tractors and boats etc.
 Beware of fallen trees and power lines.
 For emergency assistance contact the local disaster management authorities.

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Teacher recruitment examinations will be conducted in accordance with the relevant court decisions – PM

Published

22 hours ago

2026/02/14

Priyan

Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated that the forthcoming two teacher recruitment examinations will be conducted in accordance with the relevant court decisions pertaining to the ongoing legal proceedings and further noted that, taking into consideration the requests received, steps have been taken to make a request to Court’s approval to revise the conditions of the effective date of degree completion.

The Prime Minister made these remarks while addressing a meeting held at Monaragala Royal College to brief education authorities of the Monaragala District on the new education reforms.

Under the new education reforms, Smart Boards will be provided to 132 schools in the Monaragala District as part of the program to equip secondary schools with modern technology. As a symbolic step under this initiative, Smart Boards were presented to 10 secondary schools under the Prime Minister’s patronage. This program is being implemented with the intervention of the Digital Task Force operating under the Prime Minister’s Office. It was also emphasized that a new digital policy, formulated with special attention to child protection, will be introduced in April.

As part of her visit to the Monaragala District on the 13 th of February, the Prime Minister observed the implementation of the new learning methodologies introduced for Grade One under the new education reforms. She visited Kumbukkana Sri Shanmugam Tamil Maha Vidyalaya and Maduruketiya Maha Vidyalaya in Monaragala to observe the educational activities of Grade One students.

Considering the increase of student numbers and the development of infrastructure facilities, the Prime Minister also approved a proposal submitted by the School Development Society to rename Maduruketiya Maha Vidyalaya as Monaragala Dharmaraja Maha Vidyalaya.

Teachers briefed the Prime Minister that the new education system, supported by revised workbooks and activity-based learning methods, has proven to be effective, with students participating enthusiastically.

Addressing education officials further at the meeting held at Monaragala Royal College, the Prime Minister stated:

“Although this will not provide a complete solution to the existing teacher vacancies, these examinations can offer considerable relief. According to the Court’s previous determination, the effective date of degree completion had been set as 30.06.2025. However, considering numerous requests and following the cabinet approval we have sought Court’s consent to revise this date. We will act in accordance with the decision granted.

Funds allocated for school infrastructure must be utilized transparently and in line with proper planning, and progress must be reported accordingly. We cannot move forward by dividing ourselves along national, provincial, rural, or urban lines. As education authorities, you must make swift and accurate decisions based on correct data.

Further, discussions are already underway within the Piriven Committee of the Ministry of Education to develop Piriven education and to address the issues faced by Piriven teachers.”

The event was attended by the members of the Maha Sangha, Uva Province Governor Attorney-at-Law Kapila Jayasekara, Deputy Minister of Trade and Commerce R.M. Jayawardhana, Member of Parliament Ajith Agalakada, Uva Provincial Education Secretary Nihal Gunarathne, and several officials from the education sector.