Bleeding Coconut Industry

Both small and medium coconut growers are bleeding to devastation of the Industry due to idiotic decisions taken by the governments from time to time.

In 2017, on a recommendation and persistence of so-called educated lot, led by a monk who boasts himself that he knows everything, the then government banned importing weed killer chemical Glyphosate, claiming that its application poisons the ground water leading to kidney disease amongst rural communities, especially in the NW and NC Provinces. While this could be a positive argument, so far, after nearly six years of the ban, to the best of my knowledge there are no statistical records of any reduction of kidney patients in both provinces.

The second stage of destruction came in when the simpleton ex-president on the advice of paranoiac ‘ Viyathmaga’ Group stopped the importing chemical fertilizer overnight, which lead to the near collapse of paddy cultivation, not excluding coconut tea and rubber for the same reason. Fortunately ban of chemical fertilizer was lifted after realizing and confessing that it was an unfathomable mistake, but after irreparable damage has been already done to the entire agricultural sector. In an attempt to recover from this pathetic state, Government is now offering a 50kg bag of Urea at a subsidized rate of Rs. 10,000 to the paddy cultivators. Coconut fertilizer is now occasionally available between Rs. 22,000, and 25,000 a bag of 50 kg, which was around Rs, 2,500 previously, and definitely beyond any coconut producer.

The third stage of destruction came in with the scarcity of diesel, with which agricultural activities are done mechanically. So far as it applies to the coconut cultivation, weeding of an acre using a tractor and the attachment, now cost over Rs.8, 000 when it was less than Rs.1, 500 using Glyphosate. This weed killer is now smuggled from India in 250g bags and sparingly available at Rs. 1,000 a packet of 200g and hardly adequate to cover a quarter of an acre.

Therefore the small and medium coconut growers appeal to the Government to offer the coconut fertilizer at a subsidized rate around Rs.10, 000 while allowing to import Glyphosate weed killer free of duty.

TILAKARATNA RANAWEERA