Sri Lanka’s President issues directives to revitalize plantation sector
Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has issued several directives with the aim of revitalizing the country’s plantation sector.
President Rajapaksa has called on the officials to identify all underutilised lands owned by plantation companies and prepare an expeditious programme to cultivate food crops while the government would provide the required fertiliser for all plantation crops.
The President has issued these directives during a meeting convened to discuss challenges facing the plantation sector. It had been revealed during the meeting that plantation companies own over 9,000 hectares of uncultivated land.
The President has also emphasized the need to identify suitable crops for cultivation in these estates owned by 23 companies.
President Rajapaksa has also noted that the authorities should explore the possibility of conducting the tea auction in dollars.
Sri Lanka’s Plantation Minister Ramesh Pathirana, President’s Chief of Staff Anura Dissanayake, Secretary to the Ministry B.L.A.G. Dharmakeerthi and heads of line ministries were present at the meeting.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s plantation sector is yet to fully exploit its potential, especially as export commodities. Local authorities are therefore focused on further developing the plantation industry. Sri Lanka in the past dominated the international markets with several agriculture exports, especially in tea and spices. Tea, rubber and coconut are the key export crops in the country at present. However, the government of Sri Lanka is looking at diversifying the agriculture crop exports while also looking at further value additions to the existing export crops. With Sri Lanka’s overall economic expansion and the country’s growing business potential, foreign businesses/investors could confidently explore the growing opportunities in Sri Lanka’s plantation industry.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/22062022/Z_1 |