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| Tuesday, 21 September 2004 |
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by Uditha Kumarasinghe The Agriculture and Lands Ministry yesterday inaugurated a National Programme to set up 10,000 Agri Production Farmer Societies (Yaya Samithi) countrywide as a new approach to uplift the country's agriculture sector and provide speedy solutions to the major obstacles faced in the local agricultural sector. Initially, the Ministry will establish 5000 Agri Production Farmer Societies in the Kurunegala, Anuradhapura, Badulla and Nuwara Eliya districts before the end of this year. The inauguration of this programme was held at the S. de S. Jayasinghe Memorial Hall, Dehiwela under the patronage of Agriculture and Lands Minister Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Over one thousand agriculture officers including Agriculture Instructors, Agriculture Research and Production Assistants and Project Officers of the Ministry work in Colombo and Kalutara districts participated in the ceremony. Minister Dissanayake said the Government through the establishment of these societies will introduce a new action plan to provide seed, water, land, consultation service and agriculture equipment to farmers in a more systematic manner. At present all these key sectors in the agriculture sector have recorded a severe set back. "Therefore, this national endeavour intends to strengthen these key sectors in the local agricultural sector. It will also take immediate measures to develop the packaging, storage and transport methods which are presently used to transport fruits, vegetables and other agriculture products of farmers," he said. The Minister said at present nearly 35 per cent of fruit production and 40 per cent of vegetable production were destroyed in transit due to poor methods used to transport fruit and vegetables. Therefore these new societies will find out a lasting solution to these key problems in the agriculture sector while strengthening the local market to offer a fair price for farmer's products. In order to register these societies, the Ministry will shortly set up an Agri Production Farmer Societies Secretariat at the Ministry. In addition, the Ministry will recruit 250 graduates to formulate a special project on these societies, he said. Dissanayake said at present farmers have engaged in cultivation without considering the statistics and the changes of the market. Therefore a formal structure is needed which will guide farmers to do their cultivation to cater to the demands in the local market. This national programme intends to meet this requirement. |
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