Fertiliser crisis in agriculture

Tuesday, 15 June 2021 02:18 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

A point of contention in agriculture is whether to go for so called organic fertiliser or petroleum-based fertiliser. It is best to shift from one system to the other in gradual manner, without being exclusive and abrupt.

The ‘Eating Fossil Fuels, the Coming Crisis in Agriculture’ by Dale Allen Pfeiffer gives a good overview of the situation.

In the case of organic fertiliser, it is natural that human waste including urine must be used as to complete the cycle in nature. One of the ways to increase the output of organic system is to use Kandyan home gardening type system instead of mono-cropping, where considerable output can be obtained with very low inputs.

Besides, petroleum-based agriculture is non-sustainable in the long run, thus, is a non-sequitur.

Agra T. Wijeratne

Pannipitiya