COLOMBO: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa of fertiliser supplies to help the debt-ridden country avert severe food shortages caused by crop losses and exacerbated by the worst economic crisis, the President’s office said on Thursday.

President Rajapaksa, while speaking with a group of irrigation officials on the next harvesting season’s requirements, said Prime Minister Modi asserted that the supplies will be delivered for the next cultivation season. He said the fertilised supplies, to be delivered under the Indian Line of Credit, would be distributed within 20 days after the consignment reaches Colombo.

Sri Lanka is aiming to boost its agriculture sector to avoid any disruption in the agriculture market following the drop in paddy cultivation during the Maha session. Yala is the season of paddy cultivation in Sri Lanka that lasts between May and August. The Sri Lankan government banned chemical fertilisers last year as part of a phased transition towards organic agriculture.

The dearth of adequate supplies of organic fertilisers affected agricultural output, especially rice and tea, and caused a food shortage with crop losses amounting to 50 percent. Rajapaksa, a few weeks ago, admitted his decision to ban chemical fertilisers to go 100 percent organic was wrong.

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