COLOMBO: Opex Holdings, an agriculture company, said that they have invested 550 million rupees in a liquid fertilizer manufacturing plant in Maradagamuna. The plant will be the first liquid fertilizer plant in the South Asian region and is due to commence operations today. “This is a bid to slash the fertilizer import bill which is around 28 billion rupees annually,” Onesh Subasinghe managing director, Opex Holdings said. “All developed countries have moved away from the use of basic fertilizer which has reduced by 20 percent with the use of liquid fertilizer.”
Opex will commence the production of high quality liquid fertiliser with the use of advanced German technology. The company also intends to create a platform to sell high quality liquid fertilizer for a reasonably lower price while also looking for avenues to bring foreign exchange to the country by exporting the liquid fertiliser to foreign countries. The liquid fertiliser can also reduce the water stress in a drought condition, the company statement added. “Around 40 percent of paddy fields have been abandoned due to drought and this liquid fertilizer can solve this issue. This technology will produce higher harvest even in a drought condition.”
