ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage has ordered the removal of Registrar of Pesticides Dr J A Sumith who had “illegally” issued a gazette lifting the ban on Glyphosate and four other agrochemicals.
Aluthgamage told parliament on Tuesday (23) that the gazette has been revoked and the ban on Glyphosate continues.
Glyphosate, a herbicide applied to the leaves of plants to kill both broadleaf plants and grasses, was introduced to Sri Lanka in 1977 until it was banned in 2014 with some exceptions for export-oriented floriculture since August 2019.
Minister Aluthgamage said the pesticide registrar’s decision was “completely illegal” and went against the government’s policy of an environmental friendly agriculture.
Aluthgamage claimed a strong lobby of agrochemical importers have been trying to influence officials in the ministry and agriculture department. (Colombo/Nov23/2021)