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by Channa Kasturisinghe

Agriculture experts have pointed out that since Sri Lanka cannot supply large quantities of agricultural products to the exports market, we should strive to produce prime quality products to compete with other countries. They have stressed the importance of investing more on technology, research, training, extension services for minimising post harvest losses and for improvement of quality and productivity of crops including grains, fruits, vegetables, cereals, oily crops, other field crops and ornamental plants.

Acording to Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, S. B. Dissanayake it is estimated that 35 to 40 percent of locally produced vegetables and fruits are wasted by the time they reach the end user. It is about nine billion rupees lost to the annual revenue of the country. Post harvest lost causes a considerable loss to the farmers' income and the consumer has to pay high prices for vegetables and fruits.

In an effort to assist the agriculture sector to minimise these losses a National Task Force for Minimisation of Post Harvest Losses was set up with the assistance of the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka (NCCSL) and other concerned private and public sector institutions.

The Task Force held its second Annual General Meeting at the NCCSL Auditorium last week. NCCSL President, Asoka de Z. Gunasekera said that the efforts of the Task Force to reduce post harvest losses would increase the farm gate prices, lower the retail prices and improve the quality of produce in the market. "For the supply chain from the farmer to the consumer to operate smoothly, a great effort is needed in creating awareness among all stakeholders in the supply chain. At the same time there needs to be an investment in acquiring new technology.

The National Task Force giving the leadership to achieve these goals is very laudable, and the NCCSL will offer our fullest support in this endeavour," Gunasekera said.

The former President of the NCCSL Chandra Embuldeniya said that the Task Force was an initiative taken by a number of private sector and academic community members, to address the issue of reducing post harvest losses in the food and agriculture sector.

"This Task Force has come up with a number of solutions for this problem, which are practical and commercialy viable. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe summoned meetings with BOI representatives and the private sector to facilitate project investments.

It has created an opportunity for the Agriculture Ministry to introduce mechanisms to improve post harvest productivity by studying the solutions presented by the Task Force," Embuldeniya said.

The President of the, National Task Force for Minimisation of Post Harvest Losses Society Ltd., Harsha Karunaratne said that it was essential that the public and private sectors join hands in developing the country's agriculture sector.

"In order to reduce post harvest losses we should increase the demand for agriculture products by promoting agricultural marketing concepts. The demand for local products should also be increased by making use of our traditional knowledge," Karunaratne said.

Nirosh de Mel, an active member of the Protected Agriculture Entrepreneurs Association (PAEA) said that `protected agriculture technology' was an important aspect in minimising post harvest losses. "Protected agriculture technology contributes towards intensification of the use of natural resources, increasing efficiency in the use of input, conservation of environment, enhancement of productivity and quality.

PAEA concentrated on `value addition' in greenhouse grown commodities. The effort in this regard, included not only adoption of proper post harvest practices but also a comprehensive package of production and pre-harvest practices, using selected hybrid varieties, efficient nursery technology and fertilisation and irrigation practices and effective pest and disease management systems.

The demand for value added vegetable, from various agencies including supermarkets, hotels, restaurants and exporters has increased tremendously. This clearly shows that the necessity in having consumer focused and value added products in terms of convenience, cleanliness, safety and affordability is the key to competitively position the agriculture products in the domestic and foreign markets.

In order to develop this aspect of fresh produce industry based infrastructure facilities such as well-equipped packing houses, controlled environment transport, proper storage and packaging systems are essential," de Mel said.

The President, Sri Lanka Fruit and Vegetable Producers, Processors and Exporters Association, Sarath de Silva said the association has stressed the need to set up four fruit and vegetable Export Development Zones affiliated to the proposed five economic jurisdictions.

"We have contributed towards the successful implementation of that proposal by conducting training programs, signing forward contract agreements with producers and setting up agro based industries in the proposed zones," de Silva said.

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