Sri Lanka - A Warning Tale About Green Farming and ESG

[GURPS]

Sri Lanka Just Fell. What Do We Have to Do With It?



The underlying reason for the fall of Sri Lanka is that its leaders—starting with former President Maithripala Sirisena and continuing with his successor, the recently deposed Gotabaya Rajapaksa—fell under the spell of Western green elites peddling organic agriculture and “ESG,” which refers to investments made following supposedly higher Environmental, Social, and Governance criteria. Sri Lanka has a near-perfect ESG score of 98—higher than Sweden (96) and the United States (51).

What does having such a high ESG score mean? In short, it meant that Sri Lanka’s two million farmers were forced to stop using fertilizers and pesticides, laying waste to its critical agricultural sector. (Never mind that Tesla has been booted from the ESG S&P Index, while Exxon Mobil is in the top ten. None of it makes much sense.)

To be sure, there were other factors behind Sri Lanka’s fall. Covid lockdowns and a 2019 bombing hurt tourism—an industry that usually generates between $3 billion and $5 billion a year. Sri Lanka racked up huge foreign debt, with China lending the country billions of dollars as part of its Belt and Road initiative. Transportation costs have rocketed 128 percent since May due to rising oil prices. And overall trends have not helped: Since 2012, growth has been declining.

But the biggest problem was Sri Lanka’s chemical fertilizer ban, which passed last year and was central to the country’s effort to comply with ESG.

The numbers are shocking.

One-third of Sri Lanka’s farm lands were dormant in 2021 due to the fertilizer ban. Over 90 percent of Sri Lanka’s farmers had used chemical fertilizers before they were banned. After they were banned, an astonishing 85 percent experienced crop losses. Rice production fell 20 percent and prices skyrocketed 50 percent in just six months. Sri Lanka had to import $450 million worth of rice despite having been self-sufficient just months earlier. The price of carrots and tomatoes rose fivefold. All this had a dramatic impact on the more than 15 million people of the country’s 22 million people who are directly or indirectly dependent on farming.

Sri Lanka Just Fell. What Do We Have to Do With It?

The anti-growth environmental movement deserves much of the blame.

www.commonsense.news

 

[buddscreek]

i think European farmers are also dealing with this madness
i'm waiting for these same measures to come to a democratic run state near us.

 

[GURPS]

Yes Dutch Farmers are revolting at green initiatives

 

[Hijinx]

So far we are using chemical fertilizers in America , but the cost has become a factor in how much we use.

The cost of diesel fuel , fertilizer, and seed is crazy.

 

[BOP]

So far we are using chemical fertilizers in America , but the cost has become a factor in how much we use.

The cost of diesel fuel , fertilizer, and seed is crazy.

I follow Cole the Cornstar (and others) on youtube. I'm originally from that neck of the woods, and in fact grew up not far from where they are. He's pretty transparent as far as the costs of doing business on a farm, as well as (generically) the returns on their investments. What they're out-laying for all of that is beyond crazy, compared to a year ago, two years ago. It's insane, and the rest of us are bearing the burden down line.

I'm surprised Brandon hasn't accused farmers of price gouging and told them to cut their prices.

 

[Hijinx]

What's worse is China buying our farms.

 

[my-thyme]

I spray my apple trees every 2 weeks, starting right before they blossom until August, nice apples.

No spray, pitty, wormy, black-spot apples.

And I only have two trees. An apple farmer has the same choice, only he buys a lot more spray than I do. No spray, no apples.

 

[Hijinx]

I spray my apple trees every 2 weeks, starting right before they blossom until August, nice apples.

No spray, pitty, wormy, black-spot apples.

And I only have two trees. An apple farmer has the same choice, only he buys a lot more spray than I do. No spray, no apples.

Boy that's the truth. Apples definitely take a lot of spraying.

 

[TPD]

Yes Dutch Farmers are revolting at green initiatives

 

[itsbob]

So far we are using chemical fertilizers in America , but the cost has become a factor in how much we use.

The cost of diesel fuel , fertilizer, and seed is crazy.

But imagine those costs then losing more than 50% of your crops..

 

[itsbob]

I spray my apple trees every 2 weeks, starting right before they blossom until August, nice apples.

No spray, pitty, wormy, black-spot apples.

And I only have two trees. An apple farmer has the same choice, only he buys a lot more spray than I do. No spray, no apples.

I've never been able to get a single peach because the bugs get them before we do.. then the crows come in and wipe out my pears.

 

[GURPS]

Totally predictably, the world’s economic woes are spreading like a bad case of monkeypox. A cheerful National Review article yesterday bore the happy headline, “Sri Lanka’s Collapse Points to Global Gloom.” Whoops.

The article describes an eerily predictive Reuters piece from early March, quoting a Sri Lankan farmer:

“I cannot recall any time in the past when we had to struggle so much to get a decent harvest,” said [W. M.] Seneviratne, a lean 65-year-old with a shock of silver hair, who has been farming since he was a child. “Last year, we got 60 bags from these two acres. But this time it was just 10,” he added.

With fertilizer: sixty bags of rice. Without fertilizer: ten. Who could’ve seen THAT coming? Not the experts.

In April, the Guardian ran a story including this quote:

“We are a tropical country full of rice paddies and banana plantations, but because of this stupid fertilizer ban, now we don’t even have enough food to feed ourselves,” said Rajith Keerthi Tennakoon, 52, former governor of the southern province. “We have had past economic crises, security crises, but never in Sri Lanka’s history have we had a food crisis.”

Sri Lanka’s government has managed within about a year to destroy one of the best economies in the region. In 2019, the tourist-friendly island nation’s gross domestic product was double that of India’s. Now, two years later, it’s basically a failed state.

Also yesterday, the Wall Street Journal ran an article headlined, “Sri Lanka Crisis Flashes Warning for Other Indebted Economies.” Noting that Sri Lanka defaulted on its national debt in June, the Journal looked around and observed that a bunch of other small countries are in the same boat with Sri Lanka:

Countries such as [Laos,] Zambia and Lebanon are already in the grip of crises and are seeking international help to provide loans or restructure their debts, while Pakistan’s new government, which came to power in April, says that it narrowly averted a debt default in recent weeks, driven by a soaring fuel-import bill.

Pakistan is a little more worrisome than the others, since it’s a 165-warhead nuclear power. Despite that, Pakistan faces runaway national debt; skyrocketing cost of foreign imports; a collapsing currency; falling exports; food shortages, fuel shortages, and medicines shortages; it’s looking for rescue from the International Monetary Fund without any negotiating leverage; and it is relying on a fatuous economic recovery plan calling for people to drink less tea and export donkeys to China.

Here’s the key takeaway: all of these problems are SELF-INFLICTED by governments. We aren’t facing droughts, solar flares, tsunamis or other natural disasters. This is a human disaster. It’s a disaster caused by woke leftist termites who’ve burrowed into governments and hollowed them out, consuming all their intellectual substance.

The silver lining is that a global crisis might be the only thing that could create the circumstances necessary for exterminators to deal with the termite problem. The termites can check in, but they can’t check out. I’ll write more about this soon.

☕️ Coffee & Covid ☙ Wednesday, July 13, 2022 ☙ IT’S DOOMSDAY AGAIN 🦠

Electoral doomsday for dems; an nuclear-level fear-porn PSA in NYC; cracks in the Ukraine alliance; judge orders discovery into federal Twitter meddling; New Zealand covid numbers; and much more...

www.coffeeandcovid.com

 

[LightRoasted]

For your consideration ...

Ski Lanka fell because they are a negative exporter. Meaning they import more than they export. (Just like the US). Because the dollar of late has been manipulated stronger, now over 108, which in turn requires more Sri Lankan Rupees to pay for the same amount of goods and services, and since all trades are settled in US dollars, Ski Lanka went bust. Sri Lanka is just the canary in the economic coal mine. The foreshadowing of things to come in other trading manufacturing countries. Other countries themselves might not go completely bust, but their manufacturing companies will go bankrupt as their input costs will increase due to needing more of their currency to settle trades because of the strengthening of the US dollar. Then, since we don't manufacture anything anymore, and imports drop drastically, all hell breaks out here. If you haven't cashed out your retirements accounts yet, or your trading accounts, you might want to consider doing so now and parking that cash somewhere before the markets tank.

And now, since the latest inflation report has come out, and the of talk of the FED increasing rates an additional and immediate 1%, 100bps, to stimy this manufactured inflation, this action will further strengthen the dollar against other currencies. Which will require more of a country's currency to settle trades in US dollars. And since the US consumer is basically being tapped out simply because the huge rising costs of just living, they will not be buying much imported junk, exacerbating an already fragile market. Stocks will fall, and they will fall hard.

DISCLAIMER: You have been advised with a market opinion from someone that is not a licenced trader, and doesn't know anything about how the markets really work. But if you were smart, cautious, and a good observer, you would do some really hard and fast due diligence and start to read those tea leaves and come to a decision. Because what is coming on the economic horizon is not going to be pretty at all.

 

[LightRoasted]

For your consideration ...

See? This just posted at 10:40pm tonight. I know of what I speak. There will be a coming meltdown. Hold on tight!

ZeroHedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

www.zerohedge.com

 

[PJay]

Sri Lanka State TV and State Radio stop broadcasting after anti-goverment protesters storm the media buildings.

 

[GURPS]

Sri Lanka Is the Future the Global Elites Want for Everyone​

Like Sri Lanka, Ghana’s Agricultural Minister began encouraging the use of organic fertilizers in 2021 to address climate change and shortages caused by the pandemic. Ghana has experienced regular blackouts since last year, despite investments in its natural resources. Tucker Carlson reported Tuesday that, according to observers, Ghana is also suffering severe food shortages and hunger. In June, hundreds of protestors clashed with police in the capital of Accra, protesting fuel price hikes, a tax on electronic payments, and spiraling inflation. Once the hunger sets in, count on the angry crowds getting as large as those in Sri Lanka. When people get hungry, things go sideways fast.

Problems are not confined to the third world. As the government tells the Netherlands’ farmers and cattle ranchers to reduce nitrogen and ammonia use by 50%, they can at least roll into town or block the border riding a tractor. It all seems absurd, since nitrogen is a critical ingredient in any fertilizer, including organic ones. Plants require it for photosynthesis. There is also no better fertilizer for home use than milorganite, also known as pelletized chicken poop. It is high in ammonia and about as organic as you can get.

No one ever squares the circle about how to balance the need for manure with the desire to end meat production at the WEF. It is just one way you can tell the climate cabal is not made up of serious people. They are ideologues. The Netherlands is the world’s second-largest net exporter of food, so it won’t just be the Dutch people going hungry when their agricultural sector collapses from stupidity.

As Tucker Carlson noted in his monologue, we don’t have to wonder how the green revolution the UN and the World Economic Forum (WEF) are pushing will work out. We already know. Yet, here is resident genius and USAID Administrator Samantha Power in May. She is opining about the fertilizer shortage as an opportunity to move to “natural solutions” like the ones being tried in Sri Lanka, Ghana, and the Netherlands. And she wants Americans to pay for it:





Someone should ask her how to grow a tomato. Or a field of wheat. She probably knows enough about food production to access her groceries from Whole Foods through an app. But global elites like her think their status qualifies them to weigh in on global food production. It seems to be going great so far.

Carlson also explained there is a significant correlation between a country’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) score and pending societal collapse due to hunger and power shortages. According to the data he provided, the Environmental Impact scores for Ghana, Sri Lanka, and the Netherlands are 97.7%, 98.1%, and 98.7%. “So the poorer you get, the more human suffering there is, the higher your ESG score,” he noted. As climate activist Michael Shellenberger warned, the apocalyptic climate movement pushes pro-scarcity and anti-human policies. Recent events seem to underscore his view.

 

[Bird Dog]

Then, since we don't manufacture anything anymore, and imports drop drastically, all hell breaks out here

Wrong again genius……
Top 10 Manufacturing Countries in the World

• China – 28.7% Global Manufacturing Output.
• United States – 16.8% Global Manufacturing Output.
• Japan – 7.5% Global Manufacturing Output.
• Germany – 5.3% Global Manufacturing Output.
• India – 3.1% Global Manufacturing Output.
• South Korea – 3% Global Manufacturing Output.

Glad you put that disclaimer at the bottom of your post….

 

[LightRoasted]

For your consideration ...

Wrong again genius……
Top 10 Manufacturing Countries in the World

• China – 28.7% Global Manufacturing Output.
• United States – 16.8% Global Manufacturing Output.
• Japan – 7.5% Global Manufacturing Output.
• Germany – 5.3% Global Manufacturing Output.
• India – 3.1% Global Manufacturing Output.
• South Korea – 3% Global Manufacturing Output.

Glad you put that disclaimer at the bottom of your post….

Allow me to out it another way .... In general, and in a major way, we do not manufacture anything for the typical and average US consumer. Plain and simple. And fact. Last year we imported over $2,831 Trillion in goods, (aka exporting our currency), and had a trade deficit of of over $1 Trillion. Those other nations you list, will soon begin to suffer from the strengthening of the US dollar trying to sell us their manufactured goods.

 

[herb749]

Sri Lanka Is the Future the Global Elites Want for Everyone​

Like Sri Lanka, Ghana’s Agricultural Minister began encouraging the use of organic fertilizers in 2021 to address climate change and shortages caused by the pandemic. Ghana has experienced regular blackouts since last year, despite investments in its natural resources. Tucker Carlson reported Tuesday that, according to observers, Ghana is also suffering severe food shortages and hunger. In June, hundreds of protestors clashed with police in the capital of Accra, protesting fuel price hikes, a tax on electronic payments, and spiraling inflation. Once the hunger sets in, count on the angry crowds getting as large as those in Sri Lanka. When people get hungry, things go sideways fast.

Problems are not confined to the third world. As the government tells the Netherlands’ farmers and cattle ranchers to reduce nitrogen and ammonia use by 50%, they can at least roll into town or block the border riding a tractor. It all seems absurd, since nitrogen is a critical ingredient in any fertilizer, including organic ones. Plants require it for photosynthesis. There is also no better fertilizer for home use than milorganite, also known as pelletized chicken poop. It is high in ammonia and about as organic as you can get.

No one ever squares the circle about how to balance the need for manure with the desire to end meat production at the WEF. It is just one way you can tell the climate cabal is not made up of serious people. They are ideologues. The Netherlands is the world’s second-largest net exporter of food, so it won’t just be the Dutch people going hungry when their agricultural sector collapses from stupidity.

As Tucker Carlson noted in his monologue, we don’t have to wonder how the green revolution the UN and the World Economic Forum (WEF) are pushing will work out. We already know. Yet, here is resident genius and USAID Administrator Samantha Power in May. She is opining about the fertilizer shortage as an opportunity to move to “natural solutions” like the ones being tried in Sri Lanka, Ghana, and the Netherlands. And she wants Americans to pay for it:





Someone should ask her how to grow a tomato. Or a field of wheat. She probably knows enough about food production to access her groceries from Whole Foods through an app. But global elites like her think their status qualifies them to weigh in on global food production. It seems to be going great so far.

Carlson also explained there is a significant correlation between a country’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) score and pending societal collapse due to hunger and power shortages. According to the data he provided, the Environmental Impact scores for Ghana, Sri Lanka, and the Netherlands are 97.7%, 98.1%, and 98.7%. “So the poorer you get, the more human suffering there is, the higher your ESG score,” he noted. As climate activist Michael Shellenberger warned, the apocalyptic climate movement pushes pro-scarcity and anti-human policies. Recent events seem to underscore his view.

These people want to get rid of cows. Where would the manure come from then.?

 

[GURPS]

These people want to get rid of cows. Where would the manure come from then.?

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