Qualitative upgrade for red rice noodles

Irangika Range

NOVEL VENTURE: A red rice noodles manufacturing plant in Anuradhapura which is under the Post Harvest Technology Institute (PHTI) will be upgraded and modernised by the Ministry of Agricultural Development by increasing the noodles' high quality and production volume.

It is also intended to produce red rice noodles to suit international buyer requirements and the export procedure will be commencing soon.

Minister Chamal Rajapaksa said these noodles are manufactured utilising pure local red rice and the price of the packet would not be increased.

This programme aims to popularise various food items made out of rice flour among local customers focusing to increase the rate of rice consumption per person, which is very low today.

The post harvest wastage is recorded at 40 percent and as a solution for this the, Ministry has decided to set up field offices of PHTI in each district to educate farmers and businessmen on how to reduce this wastage.

Visiting the PHTI in Anuradhapura, Rajapaksa said that the country will gradually become self-sufficient in rice.

He also visited the "Prathibha" rice processing village in Kuttam Pokuna in Anuradhapura, which is implemented by the commitment of the farmers in the area under the supervision and guidance of the PHTI.

The Ministry has taken action to popularise products made out of rice flour as a solution for surplus of the local rice productivity, which increased day-by-day.

The local market as well as export market have focused to popularise local products made of rice. Exporting noodles is a very profitable business instead of exporting local rice. The country is unable to get high foreign exchange by exporting local rice due to lack of high quality.

"We are not able to compete with foreign products without promoting the required quality in local rice," he said.

The Ministry is in the process of training and educating farmers and mill owners to enhance their productivity to suite international market requirements. The project of rice processing villages has been initiated by the Ministry to help farmers in providing solutions for their technology and marketing problems.

The PHTI implements this project to introduce and popularise high technology utilised in other countries.

The project has shown progress within a short period and it expects to export local rice in the near future by upgrading its quality further.