On the feasibility of an agricultural revolution: Sri Lanka’s ban of chemical fertilizers in 2021

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cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Water Management Instituteen_US
cg.contributor.donorCGIAR Trust Funden_US
cg.contributor.initiativeResilient Citiesen_US
cg.contributor.programAcceleratorFood Frontiers and Securityen_US
cg.coverage.countrySri Lankaen_US
cg.coverage.iso3166-alpha2LKen_US
cg.creator.identifierPay Drechsel: 0000-0002-2592-8812en_US
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-025-01528-6en_US
cg.identifier.iwmilibraryH053704en_US
cg.identifier.projectIWMI - C-0006en_US
cg.isijournalISI Journalen_US
cg.issn1876-4525en_US
cg.journalFood Securityen_US
cg.reviewStatusPeer Reviewen_US
dc.contributor.authorDrechsel, Payen_US
dc.contributor.authorMadhuwanthi, Piumien_US
dc.contributor.authorNisansala, Duleeshaen_US
dc.contributor.authorRamamoorthi, Dushiyaen_US
dc.contributor.authorBandara, Thilinien_US
dc.date.accessioned2025-04-04T07:46:18Zen_US
dc.date.available2025-04-04T07:46:18Zen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/174009en_US
dc.titleOn the feasibility of an agricultural revolution: Sri Lanka’s ban of chemical fertilizers in 2021en_US
dcterms.abstractSri Lanka Government’s ambitious decision to ban synthetic agrochemicals, including chemical fertilizers (and pesticides), in April 2021 made it the first nation in the world to embark on a full-scale transition to – as the Government called it—organic farming, and address concerns about human health and the environment. Previous policies had envisioned a gradual shift, but the sudden ban caught agriculture off guard. Declining foreign exchange reserves to import chemical fertilizers and coinciding peak fertilizer prices appeared to support the timing of the move. However, the ensuing rush for organic fertilizers failed to meet the national demand, resulting in severe losses in rice and export-oriented plantation crops. Facing decreasing yields and food insecurity, the government lifted the ban in November 2021. The events raised critical questions about the necessity and feasibility of such a drastic transition and alternative ways. To explore the general feasibility of transitioning toward organic fertilizers, this study considered the actual and potential availability of biomass to “replace” chemical fertilizers at the national scale as was envisioned by the Government. The analysis focused on the four main national crops and showed that in none of the selected scenarios, Sri Lanka’s actual and potentially available organic fertilizer could supply rice- and plantation-based agrosystems with sufficient nitrogen, not to mention other crops or nutrients. The Government will in every scenario, including one that assumes a stepwise transition, remain compelled to spend significantly on importing organic fertilizer to maintain the required crop yields, which would cost the Government more foreign currency than purchasing chemical fertilizer. Even more costly is purchasing rice to close the national production gap, as Sri Lanka eventually did at the end of its nationwide experiment, which resulted in major food security concerns.en_US
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Accessen_US
dcterms.available2025-04-02en_US
dcterms.bibliographicCitationDrechsel, Pay; Madhuwanthi, Piumi; Nisansala, Duleesha; Ramamoorthi, Dushiya; Bandara, Thilini. 2025. On the feasibility of an agricultural revolution: Sri Lanka’s ban of chemical fertilizers in 2021. Food Security, 18p. (Online first) [doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-025-01528-6]en_US
dcterms.extent18p. (Online first)en_US
dcterms.issued2025-04en_US
dcterms.languageenen_US
dcterms.licenseCC-BY-4.0en_US
dcterms.publisherSpringeren_US
dcterms.subjectorganic fertilizersen_US
dcterms.subjectagrochemicalsen_US
dcterms.subjectinorganic fertilizersen_US
dcterms.subjectagricultural sectoren_US
dcterms.subjectriceen_US
dcterms.subjectteaen_US
dcterms.subjectcoconutsen_US
dcterms.subjectorganic agricultureen_US
dcterms.subjectcompostsen_US
dcterms.subjectbiomassen_US
dcterms.subjectpesticidesen_US
dcterms.subjecthuman healthen_US
dcterms.subjectpoliciesen_US
dcterms.typeJournal Articleen_US

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