Sri Lanka’s Flip to Organic Farming Causes Dispute with China Over Fertilizer Crisis

Sri Lankan policy to become the first organic farming nation in the world was a disaster and has truly given the nations top agriculturists a lot of headaches. Now, this very policy of not wanting to accept chemical fertilizers especially from China has truly led them into a political dispute with them. 

Recently a consignment of "contaminated organic fertilizer" from China was rejected by Sri Lanka. Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group Co., Ltd., China's biggest manufacturer of seaweed-based organic fertiliser, had sent the ship with a load of 20,000 tonnes of fertilizer. 

According to the Sri Lankan Government, the Shipment was rejected due to the presence of the bacterium called Erwina, which was found when the Sri Lankan regulators commissioned a lab test of the cargo at the National Plant Quarantine Service (NPQS) to determine its suitability for import. 

The bacterium Erwina is generally responsible for Plant rot and other infections that can cause major crop loss. 

With the help of the Chinese embassy in Colombo, Qingdao Seawin has contested this decision. China has requested that Sri Lankan authorities check the fertilizer with a more reputable lab business, Switzerland's SGS Group, in a statement uploaded to the embassy's Twitter account. 

 Although Sri Lanka has taken a staunch stand on this matter. It might be forced to accept Chinese fertilizers due to the enormous clout that China wields in Colombo as it has emerged as Sri Lanka's preferred lender, and the government may want its assistance to avert default. The country's foreign reserves have plummeted to only $2.5 billion, and it will be responsible for servicing $1.5 billion in maturing debt next year, creating serious doubts about its ability to pay its financial responsibilities. 

Accompanied by the Sri Lankan president’s sudden decision to take up organic farming without solid research which has caused a lot of losses to the tea farming community in Sri Lanka making it drop its tea production as a whole on a global scale. Sri Lanka might not be able to actually deny China’s demands in the upcoming days.