Sri Lanka National Plant Quarantine Service yesterday dismissed claims made by the Chinese Embasst that the tests carried out on Chinese organic fertiliser samples were "hasty".

The Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka said in a statement yesterday (09) that the Sri Lanka National Plant Quarantine Service had come to a hasty conclusion that the organic fertilizer samples imported by a Chinese company contained harmful microorganisms.

However, Sri Lankan experts confirmed that the Plant Quarantine Service in Sri Lanka had carried out its tests in accordance with the required international standards and confirmed the defect of the relevant organic fertilizers.

Devika de Costa, Professor of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, the University of Peradeniya, stated that the allegations made by the Chinese Embassy that such investigations were not carried out properly were baseless.

"According to the standard scientific process, three days are sufficient to come up with these findings. Harmful microorganisms can be identified three days using multiple processes," the Professor explained.

The inclusion of harmful microorganisms in the fertiliser imported from China has sparked a major controversy in the country's agricultural sector.