The food shortage in crisis-hit Sri Lanka is likely to worsen by next month as agriculture production is unlikely to recover amid a crippling shortage of fertilizer, a top official warned, asking people to grow whatever crops they can grow in their home garden.

“Whether we like it or not, the reality is by next month we will definitely break apart. We don’t have any assurance that our agricultural production in the Yala season can be recovered” M.M.P.K. Mayadunne, secretary of the Public Administration, was quoted as saying by Newswire.

By next month, he added, we are heading towards a severe crisis. “If it was a normal situation, we could have asked for help from other countries, but that cannot be done now. Most countries themselves are about to go through a food crisis” he said.

Faced with an unprecedented economic crisis, Sri Lanka has been struggling to import fuel, food, and other essentials. The country is seeing no hope of recovering any time soon from the shock that last year’s ill-conceived ban on chemical fertilizers had on agriculture productivity.

“We all might have a maximum of 10kg rice at our homes, but we might have to return home empty-handed when there will be no rice to buy in shops. You might now realize that we are on top of a volcano” he added.

In March, the government lifted the ban on the use of chemical fertilizers, but the shortage continues, affecting the crop yield this year as well. Currently, Colombo has sought fertilizers from China, India, and other countries.

The official also stressed that an urgent contingency plan should be formed immediately to face the inevitable crisis.

“In the near future we may have to stay in the queue and return home without fuel,” he warned, requesting people to grow whatever crop they can grow in their home garden, a bizarre suggestion the country’s Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amarweera also repeated.
The minister added that 60,000 metric tons of fertilizers from India should be delivered soon.
(SAM)