Renal diseases which started in the North Central province  has today rapidly spread to North, Eastern, Uva, Southern and to Western provinces, he said. Kalutara and Baduraliya in the Western province has already faced  this situation and the next will be Colombo, he added.

Among other factors, exposure to agrochemicals is a leading cause for this epidemic. These chemicals are included in the fertilizers which are  imported to Sri Lanka,Minister said.

The Government taking into consideration this situation decided to give money for farmers instead of the fFertilizer subsidy and it will reduce the use of fertilizer and will increase the use of non-chemical fertilizers, he added. Presently, even many countries of the world are not using chemical fertilizers, he further pointed out.