Sri Lanka’s commercial crop cultivation projects such as Aloe Vera should be kept in line with country’s environmental and food security policies, National People’s Power (NPP) MP Dr. Harini Amarasuriya told Parliament on Saturday (27). MP Amarasuriya pointed out that when these projects and policies overlap, the balance in economic development and environmental protection is lost.
Dr.Amarasuriya noted, “We cannot separate environmental protection from the overall development policy of the country. Environmental protection is inter-connected to agriculture, land, development and all other sectors in a country. It is important to pay attention when certain policy decisions taken by the government clashes with another set of policies. For example, when the government launches a particular development model it clashes with our environmental protection policies.”
“Now if you look at Aloe Vera cultivation, 6% of lands in Anuradhapura are allotted for Aloe Vera cultivation. These lands have been used for traditional cultivation purposes. There could be a co-rrelation between the ban on chemical fertilizer and farmers shifting from traditional cultivation to Aloe Vera cultivation. When farmers do not have access to fertilizer needed for traditional cultivation, they naturally move for a different cultivation and a ready-made solution is already available to them. So projects like these jeopardize our food security, environment, farming life. Have we paid attention to such details when launching projects like these?” Dr. Amarasuriya questioned.
by Daily News Sri Lanka
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