CIC Agri revs up organic fertiliser production and going green

CIC Agri Businesses has taken several key initiatives to develop and expand its organic fertiliser production facilities and also tie up with reputed companies worldwide in a bid to support and promote the Government’s efforts of moving towards a green agriculture.

The company recently acquired a startup company, Bio Technologies Ltd. (BTL) specialised in manufacturing value-added organic fertilisers. Bio Technologies has invented a specialty granulated organic fertiliser product with the brand name Bio Carbon which has several distinct advantages over the conventional compost. This compacted product is easy to handle and capable of providing a higher nutrient content with a relatively lesser volume. The product has a long stay in the soil compared to conventional compost. Bio Carbon is now gaining popularity among farmers and CIC Agri Business intends to increase its current production capacity to over 1,000 tons per month.

New organic products

Supporting the Government’s new policy initiative of promoting organic fertiliser use in the country, CIC has taken steps to developing a range of other new value-added organic products. Some of these new products are now being tested at the research stations in the company farms and will be released to the market shortly. Organo-Coconut, a product specific to coconut, ACM–Coconut, a high potassium formulation for coconut, ACM–Banana, CIC Rasacol a specialty for vegetables, are some of the specialty products expected to be released to the market shortly.

Promoting bio fertilisers and bio pesticides

Bio fertilisers are specialty products that are used to provide plant nutrients with the help of micro-organisms. These products are successfully used in many countries to reduce the use of chemical fertilisers. CIC Agribusinesses recently signed a MOU with Sri Biotech, a subsidiary of Hatton Plantations, to produce and distribute two bio fertiliser products for the tea and vegetable sectors. These new products will be added to the current organic product portfolio of the company and will be introduced to the market shortly. 

In addition, negotiations are continuing with Green Farm Bio and Green Vision-India to commence efficacy trials of several bio-pesticides under the supervision of the Registrar of Pesticides before introducing to the market. 

Organically extracted fertilisers

A significant short supply situation of nitrogen, which is the major plant nutrient used in agriculture, is expected in the coming Maha season due to the Government policy decision to ban the use of Urea. As a remedial measure the Government has issued a gazette notification allowing to import organically extracted nitrogen fertilisers. CIC has already negotiated with two organic fertiliser producing companies in Italy and Belgium to seek the possibility of importing a couple of specialty organic nitrogen supplying fertilisers for paddy and tea sectors. As soon as the Government develops the necessary protocols for imports, the company will arrange to bring down samples for field testing of a few of these new products

Promoting ‘CIC Saru’

In addition to supplying primary compost, CIC has been distributing a value-added organic soil conditioner ‘Saru’ for vegetable farmers in the country over the years. ‘Saru’ is very popular among potato farmers in N’Eliya and vegetable farmers in Kalpitiya. At present the bulk of organic fertiliser sold by CIC is produced in the company’s own farms while a smaller quantity is purchased from farmers on a buy back agreement. Initiatives have already been done to enhance the in-house Saru Production and also expand the outgrower purchases.

A boost for tea plantations

It is a well-known fact that the organic matter content in most tea soils is low resulting in reduced fertiliser use efficiency. Over the years CIC has been advocating growers to improve organic content in tea soils by conducting many field trials. As an innovative approach to add organic matter, the company provides free saplings of shade trees to tea small holder farmers to promote the cultivation of shade trees in their plantations. It is estimated that approximately two-three tons of organic matter is automatically added annually to soil by these shade trees. 

This program which was conducted as a CSR activity of the company was slowed down due to the COVID-19 threat and will be re-vamped once the situation comes back to normal. 

CSR Program to improve organic content is tea soils

CIC Agribusinesses is the major plant nutrient provider to the country’s agriculture sector. It supplies a wide range of high quality conventional and new generation of chemical fertilisers and organic fertilisers to famers. The company has been constantly advocating farmers to use both chemical and organic fertilisers in their cultivations to realise higher crop productivity in farming. Over the years company has conducted thousands of field experiments covering key agricultural crops to demonstrate the complementary effects of chemical and organic fertilisers.

As the Government focusses its attention on going green with the island’s agriculture, CIC has mobilised all its available resources in its agriculture and livestock farms to produce a maximum quantity of organic fertiliser and also expanded its out-grower compost producing network in a bid to enhance volumes.

 Bio-fertilisers and bio pesticides