Lankan rice for Poland

Uditha Kumarasinghe

COLOMBO: The Agrarian Services and Farmer Community Development Ministry is to export the present rice surplus to several countries.

Initially, the Ministry has made arrangements to export 30 tons of Samba rice to Poland monthly, Agrarian Services and Farmer Community Development Minister S.M. Chandrasena told the Daily News.

This follows Minister Chandrasena's recent visit to Poland.

On the invitation of the Polish Government, the Minister toured Poland from October 25 to 30 to visit the Polagra Agricultural exhibition.

The Minister has held extensive discussions with Agriculture and Rural Industries Minister of Poland Henrik Col Kamalshik on agricultural cooperation.

During these discussions, Poland agreed to purchase high quality Samba rice produced in Sri Lanka and to export agriculture equipment to Sri Lanka. The Ministry will export 30 tons rice to Poland shortly, the Minister said. Poland also pledged to provide technical expertise and financial assistance to develop agriculture in Sri Lanka.

The visit also helped to further strengthen bilateral ties between two countries. As the leading potato growing country in Europe, Poland has agreed to provide technical expertise and modern equipment to develop potato cultivation in Sri Lanka.

The Minister said it was also proposed at Wednesday's Cabinet meeting to look into the possibility of exporting paddy and rice to several countries.

Minister Chandrasena also plans to travel to several Scandinavian and South African countries to explore the possibility of exporting rice to such countries.