Where a push to become world's first 100% organic farming nation has led to catastrophe

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had imposed a total ban on agrochemicals in May , saying he wanted to make Sri Lankan farming 100 percent organic.

It turns out that organic farming is not something that one can flip a switch to accomplish.

I am not against organic farming, but I appreciate the care and effort that are necessary to make it work.

The government will pay 40,000 million rupees to farmers whose harvests were affected by the chemical fertiliser ban, agriculture minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage said on Tuesday.

"We are providing compensation to rice farmers whose crops were destroyed," he told reporters.

The government will spend another $149m on a price subsidy for rice farmers, he added.

The restrictions also led to angry protests from farmers, an important political constituency of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
 

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/01/where_a_push_to_become_worlds_first_100_organic_farming_nation_has_led_to_catastrophe.html