The acute shortage of chemical fertiliser in the country during the year has grossly contributed to the decline of paddy and other crops, virtually shaking the agro-economic base of the country.
.A report released by the Department of Census and Statistics for the first quarter of this year stated that the paddy crop has decreased by 33.8per cent.
According to the report, the growth rate for the first quarter of 2015 was 6.4 per cent, compared to minus 6.8 per cent in the first quarter of January – 2022. According to statistics, this is the highest decline shown in agriculture since 2015.
The shortage of chemical fertilisers has largely impacted agricultural produce, with the leading crop, paddy cultivation showing a decline of 33.8 per cent.
Tea cultivation fell by 15 per cent, rubber by 13.1 per cent, non-paddy by 9.4 per cent, vegetables by 8.4 per cent, and fruits by 3.8 per cent.
It is a clear indication of the overall decline in the agro-economic base.
“This is a set of data that speaks of the economy. It has a connection to national accounts. It is not about the yield of the field we see in agriculture and not regarding the reduction in the crop. These are the values that come from an overall economic calculation regarding agriculture.
It confirms the amount of contraction reported in agriculture compared to 2015.
However, according to this report, not all sectors have collapsed. For example, if we take coconut cultivation, coconut cultivation has increased by 16.7 per cent.” Senior Professor Buddhi Marambe of the Peradeniya Faculty of Agriculture told Lankasara, commenting on the overall situation.
