The Movement for Land and Agricultural Reform (MONLAR) has written to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, urging him to put in place a mechanism to coordinate various institutions that are needed to to make Sri Lanka the first nation to ban the use of toxic agrochemicals.

Given that there is no systematic government programme to promote carbonic agriculture among farmers, it is quite likely that many obstacles and challenges, in the short, medium, and long term to implement the programme will arise. The government must come up with a plan that addresses these challenges and mechanism that can lead to a change in attitudes and grassroot realities, MONLAR says.

“MONLAR commends the decision taken by the Cabinet of Ministers, on 27 April 2021, to ban the import of all agrochemicals with immediate effect. We are also grateful for your decision to approve the said Cabinet decision on 29 April 2021,” Chinthaka Rajapakshe, Moderator – MONLAR said in the letter to the President.

He says that the use of agrochemicals has had disastrous consequences in the past decades. The widespread use of these chemicals has contaminated soil and water, which has directly led to the increase in cancers and kidney diseases. This has not only negatively affected public health but also led to the overuse of agrochemicals besides undermining food sovereignty, unraveling the ecological balance, and causing the extinction of many animal and plant species.

“Since almost all agricultural inputs, used by Sri Lankan farmers are imported, it has allowed certain companies to build oligopolies. Currently, agriculture accounts for about 7% of the GDP but about 26% of the workforce are involved in agriculture. Often these workers are poor and receive government welfare assistance; most of them are malnourished and in the clutches of microcredit companies. MONLAR believes that promoting environmentally friendly agricultural practices can be a solution to all these problems.”

If the government is serious about banning agrochemicals and promoting environmentally friendly agriculture, it needs to convince the people that the decision to ban agrochemicals will not change when the political and economic context changes, MONLAR has said, pointing out that since coming into power the government has taken several contradictory decisions on agriculture.

“For example, the government initially announced that agrochemicals would be given to farmers free of charge and now it has banned them. Last year, the government said it would not allow fertiliser with heavy metals to enter the market but then it released 18,000 metric tons of fertiliser containing high amounts of heavy metals. These are only some of the policy contradictions.

Rajapakshe says in the MONLAR letter to the President that in the recent past, the government has given large tracts of land and water to companies and investors to expand large scale monoculture crops such as maize and sugarcane. These cultivations do require significant volumes of agrochemicals.

“A few months later, a decision has been taken to ban the import of agrochemicals. The government must clearly tell the public how it plans to rectify these contradictions,” he said.

Rajapakshe adds that if given an opportunity the MONLAR is ready to share with the government its experience with environmentally friendly agricultural practices.