Farmers' Pulse Survey July 2021 - Infographics

Abstract

These infographics are based on the 7 key findings of the Farmers’ Pulse survey July, 2021. In April 2021 President Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced a ban on the importation of chemical fertiliser in Sri Lanka. Accordingly, in July 2021 Verité Research conducted a “Farmers’ Pulse” telephone survey to elicit the views of farmers, on this policy and its expected impact. Vanguard Surveys ran the survey. A sample of 1,042 farmers were surveyed across the island and the sample was approximately evenly distributed among the nine provinces. Only farmers who cultivate more than half-an-acre of land and had been engaging in agriculture for more than three years were selected for the survey. The selected respondents were interviewed in either Sinhala or Tamil. The respondents were surveyed on their current usage of chemical fertiliser, knowledge of organic agriculture, current and expected harvest losses and their suggestions for the government. The findings revealed over 90% of the farmers surveyed use chemical fertiliser and 85% expected huge reductions in harvest if they were not able to use chemical fertiliser. Almost 80% of those who were supportive of the government’s aim to move into organic agriculture said they require more than one year to do so. The highest dependency on chemical fertiliser was among paddy farmers at 94%, followed by tea and rubber at 89%.