Sri Lanka to trial high-yield crops
The Morning: The Government has revealed plans to introduce a new paddy variety capable of achieving a maximum yield of 12,000 kg per hectare in 500 selected paddy fields during the coming Maha season.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Namal Karunaratne revealed that the Rice Research and Development Institute (RRDI) in Bathalagoda had identified a paddy variety capable of producing a yield of around 12,000 kg per hectare.
“This is a new paddy variety discovered by our scientists at the RRDI. This is a massive victory for us, because usually we get only around 4,000–4,500 kg of paddy per hectare,” he stated.
Nevertheless, he clarified that this paddy variety could not be cultivated overnight using conventional methods, as it required a technologically advanced cultivation process for successful implementation.
Accordingly, Karunaratne revealed that during this Maha season, 500 paddy fields would be selected to cultivate the new variety using advanced cultivation methods aimed at maximizing yield.
“Our target is to achieve a yield of around 7,000 kg of paddy per hectare. We have to implement this progressively, step by step,” he stated.
The Deputy Minister further stated that as part of the Government’s initiative to systematize agriculture nationwide, it had commenced testing the soil to identify essential nutrients, such as potassium, phosphorus, and nitrogen, that needed to be added.
He claimed that this approach could reduce the reliance on chemical fertilizers, lower associated costs, and ultimately increase crop yields.
OSL take:
The increasing demand for goods and services in line with the overall expansion of Sri Lanka’s economy is evident by the ongoing developments in key economic sectors like agriculture. Sri Lanka’s agriculture industry and related sectors have presented a host of business/investment opportunities given the focus on expanding the industry and increasing its output. The move to test high-yield paddy varieties indicates the increasing need for the introduction of the fast-evolving technological and technical advancements witnessed globally to Sri Lanka as well. With the country working towards becoming a hub in the South Asian region, the agriculture industry would witness a further expansion that would present many lucrative business ventures for foreign businesses/investors. The growth, profits and expansion of businesses already engaged in Sri Lanka’s agriculture industry and related sectors are further indicative of the increasing business potential in the industry. Given these developments, foreign businesses/investors could explore the expanding business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s agriculture industry and related sectors while also looking at the possibility of further expanding operations through local collaborations.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20250904/Z_1 |