1.       

VIDEO

AUDIO

2.       

Slo mo Leaf with light leaks

Slow mo sequence of tea being cut into bowls

HERMAN

The story goes that the Chinese mandarins 5000 years ago are said to have employed virgins to cut the white tea with golden scissors. It is said to have fallen into a golden bowl.

Herman: they say that the only part of the human anatomy that it touched were the lips

3.       

At 2000 Australian dollars per kilo, Virgin white tea, is the finest and one of the most expensive organic products in the world

4.       

Herman: a tea untouched by hand so why not to say that it's also untouched by any kind of chemical input.

So  it has a certain allure among the sophisticated Western world

5.       

Fruit and veg shots  -

But what would happen if all our food was organic?

Would we be healthier?

Could we afford it? 

6.       

And how can something as harmless as organic food –

SFX: Boom

Heavy music kicks in

lead to this....

7.       

SRI LANKA-CRISISNIGHT-UPDATE_2022-04-01T044944Z_1_LWD885401042022RP1_RTRWNEV_C_8854-SRI-LANKA-CRISIS-NIGHT-UPDATE @ 00:02:47:07

Angry mob

Guy yelling with fire behind him

Bus on fire

8.       

TITLE:

SRI LANKA’S ORGANIC DREAM

9.       

SUPER: Australia

Overlay of Sydney Markets_Sept 2o21 Master

In Australia, when it comes to food, we’re spoilt for choice. 

But consumers are becoming a bit fussier …. and they’re demanding change.

10.   

Hannah IV in coolroom

Hannah looking at fruit and vege

Hannah

I think COVID, it's forced everyone to think about their health definitely. And what we eat and how it's produced is a big part of that.

For nearly 6 decades the Cathels family have been selling produce.

Hannah is the 3^rd generation in this business.

11.   

Hannah driving in orchard

But in recent years they’ve turned their focus to organic.

12.   

Hannah driving though orchard

Hannah: We branched out into organic produce because there was demand for it. Consumers are telling their retailers they want to buy it, and they were telling us that there was demand for it in the market.

Upsot: Hannah getting out of car

13.   

Hannahs uncle, Ian runs the farming operation here in Batlow.

14.   

Ian and Hannah in orchard

Ian: Really the reason to trial organics was to see, one, if we could do it and then trying to look for a point of difference that, you know, might favour our orchard in, you know, selling our produce, maybe even get a high price for the apples or whatever. And it was and, you know, to try and learn how the process works

Will: So was it a financial decision?

Ian: Oh, yes.

Everyone laughs

15.   

Text on screen

TEXT: Australia owns 53% of eth worlds organic farmland

According to Woolworths – demand for organic food has grown by 30% in the past 3 years.

The Australian industry is worth an estimated $2.3 billion dollars and that’s tipped to double by 2025.

16.   

Slo mo black berries

But for the Cathels, the benefits of organic go way beyond the bank account.

17.   

Slo mo black berries

Hannah:
The value in organic produce is it's not in the appearance. The way traditional produce is, it's in, it's in the eating experience, it's in the nutritional value and it's in the benefit that it is having to the environment.

Hannah:
At the end of the day, we've learnt that there are organic farming methods that make conventional farming more profitable or more sustainable. And if it's better for the farmer's bottom line and it's better for the planet, then everyone should be doing it.

18.   

But with the Organic market accounting for just 2% of all fresh produce sales in Australia, it’s still a niche.

So an entire country going organic would be impossible, right….. or would it?

19.   

SRI LANKA GOES ORAGNIC

20.   

Drone / mountains streams

SUPER: Sri Lanka

FILE: Speech by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the COP 26 Side Event in Glasgow, Scotland, UK 31.10.2021

Humans must be in sync with nature, rather than work against it.

We require a new agricultural revolution that has sustainability at its core.

21.   

FILE: SBS_ID_6606697

In 2019 Sri Lankas president Gotabaya Rajapaksa came to power.

Ruling alongside his brother the prime minister - Mahinda Rajapaksa.

His presidential campaign centred around a green vision - that included turning the country organic within 10 years.

But in April 2021....he made a bold move

22.   

FILE: Sri Lanka Bans Artificial Fertilizers and Agrochemicals, president’s address_1080p.mp4

NEWS UPSOT: Pres. Rajapaksa:
The government of Sri Lanka banned the import of artificial fertilizers pesticides and weedicides

23.   

D7 @

Markets

And like that country became 100% organic, overnight.

Upsot of some description

24.   

Kids playing in water

Empty beach

Sequence of Guy unloading tuck full of “fertilizer”

But this decision wasn’t entirely about saving the planet….

The pandemic took  an estimated 3.6 billion dollars out of Sri Lanka’s tourism sector

And...subsidising chemical fertilizers for farmers was costing the government 400 million us dollars a year

Many experts also believed these fertlizers were being overused, causing serious health problems

So going organic was an attempt to save lives, the environment, and the economy.

25.   

Dr Ranil

5 mins

26.   

D6_Drone

It caught many off-guard

But for others, this was the moment they’d been waiting for

27.   

Fogy hills and farm

Ranil:
Organic agriculture has been practiced in Sri Lanka for at least 3000 years. So, you know, you have to have the humility to understand that this is nothing new. This is what humanity did through the ages. And we lost the knowledge.

28.   

Sequence Ranil walking through forest

Dr Ranil Senanayake is an ecologist and organic guru

He was one of the first students to formally study organic agriculture at Berkley California in 1971

But when he brought his ideas back to sri lanka  – he was shunned

Ranil:
Back then organic agriculture was almost synonymous with hippies. There was no market for it. There was no it's only the people who were, who were sort of committed to nature who was committed to all organic agriculture.

29.   

But Ranil had a vision   - to create farms that would complement the natural environment rather than work against it

30.   

Ranil

You can see the problem. The people get onto these hillsides and they just work it so that it just erodes down constantly and you can see that there's hardly any cover.

Ranil: And that would be the future. This, we say, are the new landscapes we want for. Sustainable Sri Lanka into the future.

31.   

According to Ranil, forest and farms go hand in hand.

Upsot: Ranil (walking through nursery)- “We use exotic species as well as native species”

This place used to be a degraded tea estate.

He’s spent the past 30 years, transforming it - planting every tree and literally building it from the ground up.  

32.   

Actuality Will following Ranil

Short Upsot: Ranil walking along path

Will: Did you build all these stairs?

Ranil: Everything here mate, everything.

33.   

Walking onto farm

WS standing in farm chating

Will: what's the importance of this, this place here?

Ranil: here is a demonstration. Because most farmers don't believe that they can have a diverse farm with different crops, all integrated and make it a commercial success.

Ranil: Now we have farmers who have their own farms who are coming here and working with us to learn how to develop further their farms to become like this.

34.   

Will and Ranil walking through Farm

RANIL SUPPORTS A WIDER SHIFT TO ORGANIC FARMING. HE SAYS MODERN AGRICULTURE HAS GONE TOO FAR DOWN THE WRONG TRACK

35.   

Master IV – thought track

Sequence of Ranil looking garden

Ranil:

It got to lost to another language, the language of science, which did not take the time to look at the values of traditional agriculture, but went chasing the technologies that was available to create more crops. And that's, I believe where we went wrong

36.   

EXPLAINER

FILE: SBS_ID_

POND 5 – Bullock pulling plough

105499320_bullock

Pond 5 – Farmers spraying

075000290_Farmrs spraying

In the 1960’s Agriculture across the globe went through a revolution.

A transformation driven by technology and agro chemicals in a bid to have worldwide food security.

These chemicals, mainly derived from fossil fuels have made farming more efficient and profitable -

requiring less labour and land to feed the world’s population.

But it’s signalled a shift away from traditional knowledge

37.   

Master IV

Ranil:
It is totally dumbed down agriculture because now you don't need to know anything about a plant, what it does or how to protect it. Everything comes from the bottle.

38.   

Ranil talking to farmers.

39.   

SUBS

Ranil and workers walking to fertilizer

Ranil: Come , let's go to see the liquid fertiliser.

Now what have you put in there?

A mix of leaves.

Stripy shirt: That one is fish.

Ranil: Smells terrible!

40.   

Ranil looking at liquid fertiliser

It’s a mixture of the two fermented liquids to fertilise our crops and it works wonderfully

41.   

 When chemical fertilisers were banned  - educating farmers on the alternatives became the key to implementing Sri Lankas organic dream.

42.   

SUBS

43.   

SUBS

Farmer 1: We must teach people and make them use it. We give them small amounts of this to try and see.  And the people like this.

Farmer 2: So I tell them not to waste their money.

Prepare something like this for free.

Both farmers:

The costs is less.

- It's good for us.

- It costs only our labour.

And we get sick less because there are no chemicals!

44.   

Farmers talking to Will

Sequence of same farmers spreading fertiliser

The concerns surrounding chemicals and sickness was one of the main reasons President Rajapaksa pulled the trigger on this bold plan.

Sri Lanka has one of the highest rates of chronic kidney disease in the world

And many, Ranil included, point the finger squarely at the overuse of agro chemicals.

45.   

Ranil:
I mean, it's bloody obvious to all of us, right? What happened? We changed our agriculture and the moment we change agriculture, we also had a collapse of the rural health.

46.   

GAMINI

The hurt

47.   

Eerie drone shots over rice fields.  - DJI_0013.MP4

SUPER: Polonnaruwa province

*breath*

I’m heading to the heartland of sri lanka’s rice growing industry

Estimates suggest almost 23% of the population here have Chronic kidney disease.

48.   

Hospital sign

Gamini leaving hospital

49.   

THOUGHT TRACK

SUBS

Gamini in Tuk Tuk

SL_WR_D2_5D

GAMINI: My name is Gamini Ariyaratne. I’m 62 years and I work as a rice farmer.

My father did rice farming. Then myself. I’m the second generation.

I am proud that I became a farmer.  However, I regret of the present circumstances.

50.   

EXT house

SUBS

Girl scraping coconut

GAMINIS WIFE: Daughter!  Come here a minute

and scrape some coconut.

51.   

SUBS

Gamini and wife in kitchen

WIFE - So what happened today?

GAMINI - I went. As usual, Doctor looked at the report. report was normal. They gave the previous medication as usual and asked me to take and then come in one month's time. That was it.

WIFE - did they say anything else?

GAMINI - Nothing special

52.   

Lose the shot of the cat – they are horrible creatures.

Gamini has chronic kidney disease. It causes high blood pressure, fatigue and nerve damage

 and if not managed properly – it could lead to kidney failure, dialysis and death.

53.   

SUBS

Sequence Gamini taking tablets

GAMINI - It was diagnosed in 2012. I went to do the examination because I felt some discomfort and fatigue in my body. There were some rumours circulating associating this area with kidney disease.

54.   

WS Will question

Will; So how does your dads condition affect him?

55.   

Gaminis daughter

SUBS

GAMINIS DAUGHTER: Father used to be a hard worker. Because of the condition now, it is difficult for him to work.

56.   

Will reverse question to Gamini

Will: What do you think is causing your kidney condition?

57.   

Gamini

My belief  is that this has a link with the water mineral content. However I believe that fertiliser is not poison. Fertilisers are not poison. fertilisers have chemical positive content. But I believe that fertiliser is not poison.

58.   

Sequence Gamini walking out of home and getting on his bike

What’s causing the rise in kidney disease here is inconclusive.

But according to the World Health Organisation, the main suspects are ground water pollution and agrochemicals.

59.   

Gamini: see you later

60.   

Gamini riding his bike on the road

But Gamini says there’s something having a much greater impact on his health, family… and future.

And that’s the country’s move to organic farming.

The government had promised to distribute organic alternatives to the banned fertilizers, but there wasn’t enough to go around

61.   

Gamini walking through rice field

Meaning many crops were sown without.

62.   

Will and Gamini in rice paddy

Will: So Gamini tell me what’s wrong with this crop here, what’s the problem?

63.   

SUBS

Gamini

Now, take this plant. This is less in height. There is less growth.            Growth is less means less nutritional intake. There is less nitrogen.

If the growth is less, then the yield is less.

64.   

Cu rice in flower

Up until now, Sri Lanka has long been self-sufficient in rice production.

But after this harvest, that’s in doubt.

65.   

SUBS

WILL: What kind of losses are we looking at this year?

Fifty Fifty!

WILL: Fifty percent loss?

Loss.

66.   

WILL

So do you blame the chemical ban for this drop in yield?

67.   

GAMINI IN FIELD

Yes. Assume we have to feed little babies to grow. If there is less feed, babies will suffer from malnutrition. Cultivation of crops is very similar to that.

We are furious! Angry! Not just me - but all the farmers who cultivated here are angry! 

We became angry! Farmers made a request not to do such a thing! We went on rallies protesting not to implement this step!

68.   

File footage of protests.

Protests on tractors

Farmer singing

FILE: govi udgoshanaya - hingurakgoda –- buring of th effigy

For weeks, Gamini and farmers from across the country protested

They burnt effigies of the agriculture minister  - riling against this decision to turn them organic with no transition time, education or even fertilizer alternatives.

 UPSOT guy singing/wailing 

“for the farmer who provide rice for the entire country, the rulers left them in a helpless juncture by not providing fertilizer.

With crops failing and around 25% of the country employed by agriculture - farmers like Gamini are facing an uncertain future.

69.   

Will: Will would you encourage the next generation to take up farming?

70.   

Ext Gamini house

Gamini: What is the point of someone cannot make a living out of it!

It is regrettable if we tell our children to abandon this vocation. It is synonymous with... giving up life itself.

71.   

AD BREAK

72.   

HERMAN

I told you so

73.   

Colombo street scene

I’m in Sri Lanka – a country THAT recently banned all synthetic agrochemicals, in a bid to go 100% organic.

But with failing crops, rising food costs and a quarter of the nation dependent on agriculture… the fall out is reaching beyond the fields and into the towns and cities .

Upsot: kids playing cricket

74.   

STREET SECNE IN COLOMBO

A group of people playing bingo in the street

SUBS

Old Lady: Now people have nothing to eat! They say there is no fertiliser and now there is no water. No water! No Petrol! No anything. Everything is finished.

The reason is the people in the government! Those bigwigs!

75.   

76.   

Will PTC: so this is Petta markets in the heart of Colombo, I want to go in and se what people really think about the countries drive to be 100% organic.

77.   

Upsot guy yelling:

78.   

Every item is expensive now. What is low? It is difficult to live.

79.   

NEW SUB

The prices are very high. It’s very difficult to get vegetables

80.   

SUB

So less harvest has impacted the whole Sri Lankan people. That is the reason prices have gone up. Today this problem has caused enormous issues.

81.   

The policy is now hitting the hip pocket, of all Sri Lankans.

despite concerns raised by the nations best and brightest.

82.   

Master IV Herman

Herman:

I want it recorded, that we responsibly, decline to support the country in this Endeavor to go organic.

83.   

Drone tea plantation

Woman picking tea

Representing almost 70% of the country’s agricultural exports, Tea is easily Sri Lankas most famous and valuable crop.

84.   

WS will meet and greet Herman

Upot: knock knock

Herman: Come in.

Will: Hi Herman, thanks for having me

Herman: No problem

85.   

Rings bell his desk

And within the industry, Herman Gunaratne is royalty.

Upsot @ -  “rings bell”

Herman: David! Can I get some more tea please?

86.   

Pictures on the wall

Hermans the former head of Dilmah and personal friend of President Rajapaksa – he’s been in the tea game for over 50 years and pulls no punches.

87.   

Master IV

Herman:
I think the government, like the allure of telling the world that this is organic country, Because it's fashionable.

it has a certain allure among the sophisticated Western world who are not grounded in reality at all. You know, they are living in the clouds.

Herman: No country in the world has gone entirely organic while they were advising Sri Lanka to go organic.

88.   

D4 Drone

Herman has skin in the game.

Because the product he’s most famous for is actually organic.

89.   

Herman in shop

Herman

This is Virgin White as you can see, it's very light in colour. and in my opinion, this is the only tea in the world that is completely untouched by human hands.

90.   

Drone:

Will and Herman walk and talk

breath

Herman: the white tea puckers are somewhere there

Will: This is the virgin white tea here?

Herman: Yes, You'll need a trained eye to distinguish the right.

Will: You definitely do. I didn't, I didn't pick that.

91.   

At 2000 Australian dollars per kilo, this is one of  the most expensive teas in the world.

92.   

Will: Why is it organic?

Herman: It's a it's a complete package that we’re offering, a tea untouched by hand so why not to say that it's also untouched by any kind of chemical input.

I mean, I am trying to say. Organic is fashionable. Shall I say that all the Columbo seven ladies and the rich ladies in Australia would like to drink organic stuff and eat and consume organic food

93.   

WS will and Herman walking away

Funny awkward moment

Will walks out of shot

Herman lingers in shot then walks away.

Will: On a personal note, what does tea mean to you?

Herman: My whole life. I mean, everything I've done, I've done with tea, and I must say I haven't done too bad, you know?

***both laugh ***

Herman: Mm hmm. OK. Mm hmm. Mm hmm.

94.   

herman walking

Upsot: David, get some tea for these people

Herman knows what it takes to grow organic tea.

Upsot: thank you will… come come

95.   

He was briefly on the taskforce overseeing the countries organic transition.

96.   

Will reverse question

Herman:
I Repeatedly told the people in power not to go into this because they are going to eventually have to pay an enormous price for this.

Will: Would you say that very thig you warned the president about has come true?

Herman:
Yeah. truer than I thought

Herman:
So really my view is that we shouldn't be talking about what happened. Organic agriculture is a failure if you are trying to do it overnight

97.   

PRESIDENTS BACKFLIP

98.   

Sequences of rice harvesting in field

After sustained protests, failed harvests and  sky high inflation…. 

Just 7 months after the decision to go organic, President Rajapaksa backflipped and allowed chemicals back into the country.

But subsides have not been reinstated.

And the government has offered 200 million in compensation to farmers.

But that’s a pittance what the country’s lost.

99.   

Gamini Master IV

SUBS

Gamini: So the step to save 400 Million Dollars has led to a loss of 2.4 billion dollars to the country!

Will: Is organic a dirty word now?

GAMINI: People simply hate the word organic! This whole notion of organic has now become disgusting to people! 2

100.           

FILE: SRI LANKA-CRISISNIGHT_2022-03-31T205929Z_1_LWD879531032022RP1_RTRWNEV_C_8795-SRI-LANKA-CRISIS-NIGHT

01:40: guys ith fire

0:32: guy yelling at cops

2:05 – sign

0:16 – rocking bus

Bus on fire

SRI LANKA-CRISISNIGHT-UPDATE_2022-04-01T044944Z_1_LWD885401042022RP1_RTRWNEV_C_8854-SRI-LANKA-CRISIS-NIGHT-UPDATE.mp4

Good fire footage

00:02:18:16 – police whacks a guy

Sri Lanka is in the grips of it’s worst financial crisis in 70 years

Foreign reserves are running out and so are food supplies, medicine and fuel

Protests have turned to deadly riots. 

With tear gas fired at angry crowds   

With violence erupting nationwide the prime minister has resigned

And the presidency of his younger brother hangs by a thread

The shift to organic wasn’t the only action fuelling this crisis – but it's played a part

 and it will take a long time for Sri Lanka…  and it’s farmers…to recover.

101.           

RANIL WRAP

102.           

Will Ranil Master IV

Will: So given everything you've been working for here, how did it feel to

Will:
see it fail like that

Ranil:
It's like building a bridge slowly And some idiot in a car comes and crashes into the bridge and ruins the entire foundations that you're making. I mean, you, you're doing this work slowly and methodically and some idiot comes, you know, and destroys the structure

103.           

Rani getting into car

In defiance, or perhaps defence of this organic tragedy, Ranils asked me to visit the farm of one of his very first l students, Ah-tool-ah

104.           

Ranil in car driving to Athula

Ranil: he branched out on his own and he created an organic farm, and it became extremely successful organic farmer supplying vegetables into the city

105.           

About 80% of Sri Lankas farms are around this size, it’s a shade under 5 acres.

106.           

Ranil walking into farm  - meets and old guy he knows from the community

SUBS

M1 Right. Here we are.

Ranil: Greetings! After a long time! You are looking after it well. It looks beautiful.

0These people have come from Australia!

107.           

Following Ranil and farmer

Although the Australian and Sri Lankan organic landscape is vastly different - the motives and indicators for success are the same.

108.           

Will chatting to Ranil

Ranil: Look around, see the people engaged, the laborers, the people being paid and speak to the operators of these farms. Athula has been making a profit off these farms over ten years.

Will: Is it scalable to large scale agriculture?

Ranil: This, in the Sri Lankan context.

Is large scale what you're seeing now in the Sri Lankan context is large scale if this is repeated over and over and over again it means more and more jobs and more and more clean production.

109.           

D6 Drone

Like many, Ranil hopes that last year is just a disastrous step in the right direction.

And that a transition to organic is possible if farmers are given the resources and time to change.

110.           

ALT END GRABS

Master IV

Will noddy

Ranil:
It has done damage, not irreparable because the world is waking up to the fact that you need clean food. So the market for organic is going to grow. There is no two words, words about that, right?

Ranil:
And the sooner we get ready to supply the world with clean food, the better off we will be.