Almost a year after banning the import and usage of chemical fertilizers, Sri Lanka’s embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa admitted for the first time that last year’s move was a mistake and announced the reversal of the policy, thus effectively ending the much-marketed pursuit of the island country becoming the world’s first organic nation.

The admission—which was long overdue many say— came on Monday when President Rajapaksa appointed a new cabinet amid the countrywide protests over the mishandling of the economy. In a bid to push the country into a completely organic state, the Rajapaksa government had last year banned the use and import of chemical fertilizer almost overnight, leading to a loss in yield and production. The move proved costly for the country which was already reeling under the forex crisis amid the loss of tourism income during the pandemic and effectively compromised the country's food security.

In his remark to the new cabinet, President Rajapaksa pointed out two key mistakes that would prove fatal for the country’s already troubled economy: first the chemical fertilizer ban; second, the delay in approaching the IMF.

“There were some shortcomings on our part ….I believe that we should have gone for the IMF program before this. I also think that it was a mistake to not provide chemical fertilizers to farmers. We have now ensured that they will be given again,” he was quoted as saying by The Morning.

The remark was significant for the Rajapaksas, the country’s ruling family, who, despite warnings, criticism, and even confirmed reports of food shortages, were promoting and marketing the country's organic transformation until very recently.

Four months back in December last year, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fired the country’s then agriculture secretary a day after he publicly warned of an imminent food crisis in the country. [Read More].

Other advisors, critical of his policy were systematically shown the door and blamed for spreading panic. The illusion among the rulers about the impending storm waiting for the country would later prove quite disastrous for the island country.

In his speech on Monday, Rajapaksa, who has been facing protests seeking his resignation, said, “Our priority now is to find solutions to the economic crisis. Without solving that crisis, no other problem can be solved……We must always tell the truth to the public. There is no point in hiding the reality from them.”

(SAM)