Sri Lanka has banned the sale of Monsanto's Roundup after a study linked the herbicide to an increase in chronic kidney disease.
1. Sri Lanka bans sale of glyphosate weedicide responsible for kidney disease
2. Glyphosate to be banned in Sri Lanka
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1. Sri Lanka bans sale of glyphosate weedicide responsible for kidney disease
ColomboPage (Sri Lanka), Mar 12, 2014
http://www.colombopage.com/archive_14A/Mar12_1394634963CH.php
Sri Lanka has banned the sale of Monsanto's "RoundUp" glyphosate weedicide after a study found that the weedicide is responsible for the increasing number of chronic kidney disease patients.
Minister of Special Projects S.M. Chandrasena said the decision to ban Glyphosate sales in the country has been taken on a directive of the President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Addressing a media briefing, the Minister said several programs have been implemented to prevent the high occurrence of kidney disease among the farming community.
A new study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found a link between the weedicide known as Roundup and the fatal Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown origin (CKDu) affecting mostly the rice farmers in Sri Lanka and several other countries.
The study found that while the weedicide itself is not nephrotoxic, when it combines with hard ground water containing metals such as cadmium and arsenic, either naturally present in the soil or added through fertilizer, glyphosate becomes extremely toxic to the kidney.
In recent years a significant increase in the number of CKD patients has been observed in some parts of the country, especially in North Central, North Western, Uva, and Eastern Provinces.
According to the Minister a national program to prevent the kidney disease will be launched next Friday. The program will encourage the Sri Lankan farmers to produce and use organic fertilizer.
Dr. Channa Jayasumana of Rajarata University, the lead author of the study on glyphosate, told the national radio that paddy has been planted without the use of chemical fertilizer in an extent of 100 acres in the left bank of Rajanganaya and plans are underway to plant traditional paddy varieties in 5,000 acres of land in the right bank also.
The Ministry of Agriculture aims to cultivate paddy in 100,000 acres of land throughout the country in the Maha season using organic fertilizer.
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2. Glyphosate to be banned in Sri Lanka
Lahiru Pothmulla
dailymirror.lk, 12 Mar 2014
http://www.dailymirror.lk/news/44366-glyphosate-to-be-banned-in-sri-lanka.html
The use of the weedicide Glyphosate has been banned on a directive from President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Deputy Minister S.M. Chandrasena said. He said this weedicide is known to be linked to the rapidly spreading kidney disease in Sri Lanka.
“An investigation carried out by medical specialists and scientists have revealed that kidney disease was mainly caused by Glysophate. President Mahinda Rajapaksa has ordered the immediate removal of Glyphosate from the local market soon after he was told of the contents of the report,” the Special Project Minister and Deputy Minister of Economic Development said.
He said the North-Central Province had some 25,000 patients suffering from kidney ailments and that the ministry would use all possible means to fight the disease by providing them with funds to meet their medical expenses and supply them with clean drinking water.