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Farmers in Africa say their soil is dying and chemical fertilizers are in part to blame

NAIROBI, Kenya — When Benson Wanjala started farming in his western Kenya village two and a half decades ago, his 10-acre farm could produce a bountiful harvest of 200 bags of maize. Kenya’s government first introduced a fertilizer subsidy in 2008, making chemical fertilizers more accessible for smaller-scale farmers. “Inorganic fertilizers were never meant to be the foundation of crop …

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Budget 2023, announced the launch of “PM Pranam Yojana” for the promotion of alternative fertilizers and balanced use of chemical fertilizers. Finance Minister in her speech said, “PM Programme for Restoration, Awareness, Nourishment and Amelioration of Mother Earth’ will be launched to incentivize States and Union Territories to promote alternative fertilizers and balanced use …

GM Mustard and the Chemical Imbalance of Our Farms: The Emerging Chemical ‘Locha’

A recent newspaper report highlighted that the use of DAP fertilizer has risen by 16.9 percent in the country, while the sales of other fertilizers like MoP have fallen by 47.9 percent. Every GM seed creates a unique chemical supply chain of pesticides and fertilizers. Research shows that Herbicide resistant weeds are a reality across farms growing GM crops and …

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Sri Lanka imports 600,000 metric tonnes of substandard rice due to flawed chemical fertiliser ban: Minister

Highlights Poisonous rice has been imported due to flawed decision of previous government Last year, Gotabaya Rajapaksa put a blanket ban on imports of chemical fertilizers Sri Lanka is going through its worst economic crisis since its independence in 1948 Sri Lanka economic crisis : Lanka's Agricultural Minister Mahinda Amaraweera informed Parliament on Thursday that the cash-strapped country had to …

From the time he began voting, Kurunegala farmer B.M.H. Acknowledging there was “some criticism and resistance” to his government’s ‘organic only’ policy, he told the summit: “In addition to chemical fertilizer lobby groups, this resistance has come from farmers who have grown accustomed to overusing fertilizer as an easy means of increasing yields.” He did not mention Sri Lankan scientists, …

Sri Lanka partially lifts ban on chemical fertilizers; allows private sector to import it

The Sri Lankan government has decided to partially lift the ban on chemical fertilizers and permit the private sector to import it to allow the country’s farmers to purchase it from the open market, Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage said on Wednesday. Following last week’s confusion when the top agriculture bureaucrat Udith Jayasinghe implied that there would be a blanket lifting …

For Muthu Sivamohan, a farmer leader in Sri Lanka’s northern Kilinochchi district, the uncertainty looming over his paddy yield, after the government banned chemical fertilizers, is only comparable to “two other periods of crisis”. Challenging the government’s claim that chemical fertilizers caused farmers’ kidney ailments, scientists have dubbed the current crisis “the most turbulent” period in Sri Lanka’s agricultural history. …

A couple with no previous experience in farming have grown paddy in the backyard of their house without using pesticides or chemical fertilizers in Nadia district of West Bengal. Kar and his wife, who does not have firsthand experience of cultivation, for the first time managed to grow paddy amidst the concrete jungle. Last season we employed two people who …

The Delhi Police busted a factory in Khera Kalan village that was involved in bulk production of duplicate fertilizers, insecticides, and pesticides of Kala Sona brand. According to police, an employee and managing partner of SGS IPR Consultancy LLP, authorised representatives of Bharat Agro Chemical which manufactures Kala Sona fertilisers, gave a written complaint against the manufacturing of duplicate fertilisers …