Sri Lanka launches ambitious initiative to promote organic agriculture
Daily FT: The National Organic Control Unit (NOCU), the competent authority for organic agriculture in Sri Lanka established under the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB), launched its initiative to promote organic agriculture countrywide recently.
As part of this effort, the first awareness programme was successfully conducted in the Kegalle District on 25 July, demonstrating an encouraging turnout of about 80 attendees who actively took part in the event. The participants, representing various sectors of the agriculture industry, gained valuable insights into organic farming techniques, certification processes, organic standards, and market opportunities.
The programme also highlighted the contribution of the NOCU to organic farming in terms of its role in promoting a credible organic agriculture value chain.
As the regulatory body responsible for overseeing activities within the island’s organic agricultural sector, the main objective of the NOCU is to protect the credibility of organic agricultural products that are imported, exported, and sold in the local market as a reliable source for consumers. In line with this objective, the NOCU has scheduled six comprehensive awareness programmes islandwide aimed at educating farmers, exporters, processors, and relevant Government officials on organic agriculture, including principles of organic agriculture and farming practices, Sri Lankan organic standards and organic certification procedures, as well as marketing prospects for organic agricultural products.
The ever-increasing demand for organic products globally, including Sri Lanka, underscores the need for proper knowledge on organic agriculture to ensure that reliable organic food reaches customers. Consequently, implementing awareness programmes is essential as the island has immense opportunities in the organic agricultural sector. Since its establishment in 2014, the NOCU has taken significant steps to enhance the organic agriculture sector in Sri Lanka.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s economic expansion has created many business/investment opportunities in several key economic sectors in the country including the agriculture industry. There’s an expansion in the consumption crop as well as the export crop cultivation sectors. The expansion in the agriculture industry has opened up a host of new business/investment opportunities in the industry that range from providing technical expertise to the introduction of new crops with higher yield as well as equipment and fertilizers. With Sri Lanka’s commitment to meet sustainable development goals, there’s an increasing demand for organic fertilizer for the agriculture industry as well as other products in-line with sustainable solutions and good agricultural practices. These opportunities will see a further expansion along with the ongoing growth in Sri Lanka’s overall economy. Given the growing business potential in Sri Lanka’s agriculture industry, foreign businesses/investors could confidently explore the expanding business/investment opportunities in the industry.