President Maithripala Sirisena today (07) said he does not agree with the campaign promises given by the two presidential front-runners to provide free-of-charge chemical fertilizers to local farmers.
What really should be done is to renounce the use of chemical fertilizers, he stressed.
The President pointed this out this morning (07) while addressing the event held to vest the newly constructed line institutes in Ambana new town with its residents.
President Sirisena also declared opened the sluice gates of the Kalu Ganga Reservoir ceremoniously, marking the completion of the project.
The Kalu Ganga Reservoir Project comes under the mega Moragahakanda – Kalu Ganga Multi-Purpose Development Project.
The President subsequently vested several line institutes with the public, including Ambana Divisional Hospital, Samurdhi Bank, Govi Jana Service Center and bus stand constructed at a cost of Rs. 1200 under Moragahakanda-Kalu Ganga Multi-Purpose Development Project.
President Sirisena says his perspective is that the country must adopt a policy that abandons the use of chemical fertilizer and adopt the practice of using organic fertilizer for agricultural purposes.
“If chemical fertilizers are to be given to the people free of charge, we might as well import kidneys along with these chemical fertilizer shipments,” the President said taking a dim view of the presidential candidate’s campaign promises.
The final results of the researches conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO), local universities and other research institutions have evidently shown that the primary cause of chronic kidney diseases is the agrochemicals used in agricultural products including chemical fertilizers, the President pointed out.
He highlighted the importance of providing reliefs to the farmers but insisted that disbursing free chemical fertilizers can result in an increased number of chronic kidney patients in the country.
The water capacity of the Kalu Ganga Reservoir is 248 million cubic metres and the length and the height of the main dam are 618 meters and 68 meters respectively.
The project will meet the water demands of 3000 families who have been resettled at the lower valley of Kaluganga. It will supply water to nurture 2000 acres of irrigation land and the excess water will be released to Moragahakanda reservoir. A 9- meter long canal has been constructed for this purpose.
The project will be instrumental in developing agricultural activities by increasing the water supply to old Amban Ganga, Yodha Ela via Minneriya, Giritale, Kawudulla and Kantale. In addition, this will also enable 40,000 families to cultivate in both Yala and Maha seasons.
