10% levy proposed on agro-chemical imports .

​An expert panel appointed by the Agriculture Ministry has proposed a ten per cent levy on agro-chemical imports with the income being used for the welfare of people suffering from chronic renal failure.

The panel made up of medical and agricultural experts was asked to recommend measures to curb the spread of this disease that had taken a heavy toll on people in the dry zone. After years of research and experiments, the World Health Organization (WHO) had found that the high content of arsenic and cadmium in the soil and the hardness of the water hardness are the main causes for this disease.  

The panel recommends that farmers be discouraged from using agro-chemicals and a ban imposed on advertising chemical fertilizer and pesticides.  

The introduction of organic farming, avoidance of drinking hard water, better publicising of health risks due to chemical use are among the other recommendations made by the panel.      

Among the ten members of the panel were Ministry Additional Secretary Dr. D.B.T. Wijeratne, Agrarian Services Commissioner General Sunil Weerasinghe and Rajarata Medical faculty Lecturer Dr. Channa Jayasumana.

The kidney disease known as chronic renal failure was first identified in the dry zone in 1990s.  It is found in areas such as Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Dehiattakandiya, Hambantota, Mahiyangane and Kantale.


Source : dailymirror.lk