Sri Lankan government to amend and modernize agriculture policy framework
Sri Lanka’s Agriculture Ministry Secretary K.D.S. Ruwanchandra has said that the government of Sri Lanka has decided to amend the country’s agriculture policy framework to be on par with modern trends and enable the sector to be climate resilient.
Ruwanchandra has made this observation to the media at a news conference held at the Government Information Department.
He has noted that the existing agriculture policy was formulated in 2007 and that needed to be amended as sectors such as food safety were not covered by the existing policy.
“The existing agriculture policy does not address broader issues pertaining to the sector and we have been talking about this for the last one and a half years. Therefore we are working closely with experts to formulate a policy that is suitable for today’s challenges.”
He has reportedly noted that the main purpose of formulating a new agriculture policy was to introduce new policies such as smart agriculture and climate resilience practices for farmers. He said the new policy will cover areas such as plantations, livestock, and fisheries.
According to Ruwanchandra, the new policy would also be focused on ways to reduce crop failures due to climate changes that had been a challenge for the last few years and affected the agricultural sector. Also, the policy will look for ways to reduce post-harvest losses that has been in talks for many years.
The Secretary has added that the Ministry has decided to invite stakeholders to present their proposals to improve the country’s agriculture policy.
The European Union (EU) is to provide technical assistance for the process with the participation of local and foreign experts.
OSL take:
The Sri Lankan government’s commitment to amend the country’s agriculture policy targeting the modernisation of the industry has opened up a host of new business/investment opportunities in the island nation. Therefore foreign companies engaged in the field of agriculture could explore possibilities of introducing the latest technologies to Sri Lanka or even look at providing expertise in the field of agriculture.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/14062019/Z_6 |