Colombo: Sri Lanka A Chinese ship has been barred from carrying hard organic fertilizer, which experts have found to be contaminated with harmful bacteria, officials said on Sunday.
The action comes as Sri Lanka is grappling with food shortages due to a currency crisis, while farmers have said the government’s ban on chemical fertilisers could ruin their crops this year.
President gotabaya Rajapaksa’s office said National Plant Quarantine Services A sample from an unidentified Chinese vessel was tested and “confirmed the presence of organisms including certain types of harmful bacteria”.
A commercial high court has banned any payment for 96,000 tonnes of fertilizer to Qingdao Siwin Biotech Group Co Ltd, an official statement said.
Authorities put a $42 million deal on hold last month, but reports said the cargo was still shipped and was due in Colombo. The location of the ship has not been disclosed.
Sri Lanka Port Authority Said that the Ministry of Agriculture on Saturday ordered them to stop the unloading of fertilizer in any port and turn away the Chinese vessel.
Sri Lanka originally ordered organic fertilizer from China as part of its efforts to become the world’s first 100 percent organic farming country.
Organic plant nutrients from China were to replace chemicals phased out during the main rice cultivation season, which began on October 15.
Following widespread protests from farmers that the release of agrochemicals would severely affect yields, the government last week lifted the ban on chemical fertilizers imposed in May.
Since then it has imported 30,000 tonnes of potassium chloride as fertilizer and about 3 million liters of nitrogen based plant nutrients from India.
Farmers of tea, with rice the main export commodity, have warned that crop yields could be halved without chemicals.
The action comes as Sri Lanka is grappling with food shortages due to a currency crisis, while farmers have said the government’s ban on chemical fertilisers could ruin their crops this year.
President gotabaya Rajapaksa’s office said National Plant Quarantine Services A sample from an unidentified Chinese vessel was tested and “confirmed the presence of organisms including certain types of harmful bacteria”.
A commercial high court has banned any payment for 96,000 tonnes of fertilizer to Qingdao Siwin Biotech Group Co Ltd, an official statement said.
Authorities put a $42 million deal on hold last month, but reports said the cargo was still shipped and was due in Colombo. The location of the ship has not been disclosed.
Sri Lanka Port Authority Said that the Ministry of Agriculture on Saturday ordered them to stop the unloading of fertilizer in any port and turn away the Chinese vessel.
Sri Lanka originally ordered organic fertilizer from China as part of its efforts to become the world’s first 100 percent organic farming country.
Organic plant nutrients from China were to replace chemicals phased out during the main rice cultivation season, which began on October 15.
Following widespread protests from farmers that the release of agrochemicals would severely affect yields, the government last week lifted the ban on chemical fertilizers imposed in May.
Since then it has imported 30,000 tonnes of potassium chloride as fertilizer and about 3 million liters of nitrogen based plant nutrients from India.
Farmers of tea, with rice the main export commodity, have warned that crop yields could be halved without chemicals.
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