The Organization of Professional Associations (OPA) of Sri Lanka comprising 52 Professional Associations
appreciate the decision taken by the Government to establish a ‘Green Socio-Economic Model for Sustainable
Solutions to Climate Change’ including the agriculture sector of Sri Lanka. Sir, whilst appreciating the effort to use
organic fertilizer, we wish to draw the urgent attention of the government to crucial issues that should be
immediately addressed in the effort to realize the objectives of the decision.
We are aware that agricultural professionals have informed the government on technical details of the necessity
of use of fertilizer, both chemical as well as organic fertilizer, in the agricultural system.. Hence, from the OPA
point of view, we do not wish to repeat what these professionals and the Department of Agriculture have
conveyed to the government.
The government’s decision to go for environment-friendly agriculture is appreciable. It will certainly have positive
outcomes for people in Sri Lanka. However, we must be clear about the negative effects of such a move as well, in
order to curb the foreseeable impact. The process of transformation to environment-friendly agriculture must be
designed and implemented with adequate emphasis upon increasing positive outcomes while managing the
negative effects to the minimum. This would augur well with your statement, which we consider as a well
thoughtful statement in the “Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour”. i.e. “Building up a community of citizens who are
healthy and productive, we need to develop the habit of consuming food with no contamination with harmful
chemicals. In order to guarantee the people’s right to such safe food, the entire Sri Lankan agriculture will be
promoted to use organic fertilizers during the next ten years”
Accordingly, we would like to recommend the following as the Road Map to expedite the Action Plan for
transforming from Chemical Fertilizer to Organic Fertilizer
