Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture Prof. Udith K. Jayasinghe stated that the Gazette notification banning the use of chemical fertilizers was issued on wrong instructions.

The Secretary said that neither President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa nor the government nor the Minister in charge of the subject was responsible for this and fount fault with the top officials who advised the political authorities on this.

The Secretary said that he too had contributed to the formulation of the President's Prosperity Vision Policy Statement. "According to this vision, instead of issuing a gazette notification banning the use of agrochemicals, the importation of high quality eco-friendly plant nutrients should have been allowed," he said.

He further stated that the situation in the country today would have been better if the gazette notification had been issued in the above manner.

He said the President had discussed the current situation with Ministers, Researchers and Administrators and discussed ways to resolve the current issue.

He also stated that high quality bio-fertilizers should be used instead of non-toxic fertilizers.