How sustainable is our agriculture?

Sri Lanka ranks 26th place in fertiliser usage in the world. It is important to understand that more fertiliser doesn’t mean more harvest

The Institute of National Security Studies Sri Lanka (INSSSL) organised a webinar on ‘Development of Sustainable Agriculture in Sri Lanka’ on 22 June at 4 pm via Zoom. The panel consisted of Dr. R.S.K. Keerthisena, INSSSL Research Department of Agriculture Additional Director General Mahesh Gammanpila, National Fertilizer Secretariat Director Dr. Terney Pradeep and Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) General Manager.

The discussion was moderated by Institute of National Security Studies Sri Lanka (INSSSL) Director General Admiral (Prof.) Jayanath Colombage. This was attended by local and international scholars.  

We are self-sufficient in rice, coconut and tea. No matter how much dependent we are on dhal, we learnt to survive without dhal during the pandemic. But the question lies as to why Sri Lanka, being a tropical country with arable land, continues to import fruits and vegetables?

COVID-19 has opened our eyes for the need of self-sufficiency. Around 400,000 hectares of land has been cultivated during the pandemic. It is unfortunate that with the high demand, there is an increased usage of fertiliser with adverse effects on soil and water. Dr. R.S.K. Keerthisena highlighted that in modern farming, “There are little over 80 varieties of rice in Sri Lanka, but nearly 90% of rice lands are cultivated with only 10 varieties. Traditional varieties are cultivated in less than 1% of total rice lands.” 

He also mentioned that there’s a tendency for traditional varieties to disappear. These are challenges to soil fertility as intensive cultivated crops remove significant amount of nutrients from the soil through harvest. Therefore, nutrients are substituted with chemical fertilisers. It is alarming to hear that “…we use around 4,000 tons of pesticides per year”.

Sri Lanka ranks 26th place in fertiliser usage in the world. According to Mahesh Gammanpila, 225kg/ha of fertiliser is used for paddy cultivation, while the average production per hectare is 4.2 metric tons – it is important to understand that more fertiliser doesn’t mean more harvest. 

He then added: “We are adding more than 20,000-23,000 kg of arsenic, 40,000-50,000 kg of chromium and 20,000-30,000 kg of lead to the soil.” What is the need of importing 800,000 metric tons of straight chemical fertiliser per annum if less than 20% of fertilisers are absorbed by plants? 

Gammanpila noted that what is important is improving soil texture, structure and health as this is what retains the sustainable development of agriculture. He suggested that there should be a paradigm shift from chemical fertilisers to organic fertilisers.

A stark image was further painted by Dr. Terney Pradeep while mentioning that only about 3% of the earth is left to grow food. He mentioned that ocean is widely used for energy, transportation, mineral, water, leisure and health, however less used for food. 

He said: “International Rice Research Institute study estimated that 83% of applied fertiliser entered surface and subsoil waters which is finally end up in the sea.” According to him, the adverse effects can be named as health toxic, cancer, eutrophication and water quality pathogen. 

Due to eutrophication, there is algal bloom on the top layer and a dead zone in the bottom layer. Dr. Pradeep further added that there is competition in nature – as corals are faced to compete with large algal blooms. His question remains unaddressed, as to why people don’t comprehend the gravity of all chemicals used, which end up in tissues and muscles of human beings in high doses. One issue is lack of scientific research in the field. 

The ocean plays the role of the largest carbon sink, absorbing one third of carbon emitted by human activities, which accounts to roughly two billion metric tons per year. Dr. Pradeep emphasised that the “…ocean is our lifeline. Ocean is the blue heart of our planet. If we don’t allow the blue heart to beat, life on the whole planet will end.” 

We are glad to hear that the President has signed the Colombo Declaration reforming the resolution of sustainable nitrogen management, which was adopted at fourth session of the UN environment assembly. As per Gammanpila, the global economy wide nitrogen usage is currently ineffective with extremely large proportions reactive nitrogen in the environment. 

It is a good step forward that Sri Lanka has pledged to reduce 50% nitrogen waste by 2030. He mentioned that “the vision is to have sustainable, economic and quality crop productions and eco-friendly inputs that will ensure food security and food safety to the consumers. The mission is to have a fertiliser industry that provides affordable and accessible fertiliser to farmers to achieve increased sustainable agricultural productivity and improve farm incomes.” 

Moreover, Sri Lanka has become a member for the International Nitrogen Management System. However, if the policies are confined to be policies without implementation, that is where we fail. Admiral Colombage highlighted that it is important to ensure sustainable development of agriculture with minimum damage to the environment.

The Ministry of Agriculture has been developing a National Agricultural Policy, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations for 10 years. It is necessary to accelerate the process as this will provide solutions for issues of sustainability as well. Dr. Pradeep proposed in short, that medium and long term action plans are crucial. 

Adding to this, our way forward should consist of awareness, alternatives, reverting back to environmentally-friendly systems, intensive aquaculture, and monitoring and law enforcement.