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Move to facilitate efficient marketing mechanism:

Govt to promote ‘One Stop Shop’ concept in NE

The Government will promote the concept of “One Stop Shop” in the Northern and Eastern Provinces to facilitate an efficient marketing mechanism.

The agricultural sector will be given prominence in these provinces and the farmers will be encouraged to use organic fertilizer to minimize health hazards, Minister of Agriculture Development and Agrarian Services Hemakumara Nanayakkara told the Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2009 in Colombo yesterday. “The fertilizer subsidy has a greater impact on production, but it has a negative impact too, health concerns being one of them. The over-use of fertilizer has caused renal diseases.

Our effort is to encourage farmers to go for organic fertilizer. When the harvest of the production in the Eastern province adds to the overall production of the country there will be a surplus.

We need to concentrate on international markets as well,” he said.

“The efficiency of fertilizer use is estimated to be 25 percent. The Government’s stand on Genetically Modified (GM) food is that though people are unaware they consume it. We do not have a law to display the content and label them as in England.

These foods should be permitted after a careful study as it is the most advanced stage of food production. It is important to leverage our bio-diversity and add value. This will in turn raise the living standards of the farmers,” he said. The agricultural sector is the highest employment provider as 34 percent directly and 80 percent indirectly depend on the sector.

Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya Prof. Buddhi Marambe said that hybrid production is on the cards and things are opening up. “Every time development takes place there is a thirst for new technology.

Hence it is important that the private sector comes forward. We have to go beyond the demarcations and boundaries.

Sri Lanka’s agri production is not geared to match international demand. The country produces the best pineapples in the world. There is a big demand and we need to focus our attention on securing the world market. The prices of vegetables fluctuate due to seasonal changes. The Institute of Post Harvest Technology has plans to reach all provinces to reduce post harvest losses,” he said.

The Secretary to the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources G. Piyasena said that the fisheries industry in the North and the East has tremendous potential for growth. “Before the war, these provinces contributed 40 percent of the production and during the past two decades it dropped to a mere 5 percent. The sector needs to be developed as it provides 65 percent of the protein intake in the country.

Fish production has increased. However, the prices have not dropped due to the transportation problem. The fleet too needs to be increased as it consists of only 50,000 boats. The efficiency of the fishing fleet needs to be improved to make it a viable industry,” he said.

 

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