Packed vegetables and fruits at Narahenpita dec

Irangika Range

The first wholesale trade centre for vegetables and fruits contained in plastic packages enabling farmers to earn additional income while reducing the post-harvest loses on transportation and marketing of produce will be opened in the Dedicated Economic Centre (DEC) in Narahenpita on July 30.

Addressing a media-briefing in Colombo yesterday, Trade, Marketing Development, Co-operatives and Consumer Services Minister Bandula Gunawardene said that plastic packaging would increase the quality of fruits and vegetables during transport and marketing.

"We can maintain freshness of the items resulting in attracting more consumers," the Minister said.

With the opening of this centre, farmers would start to use the plastic packages to transport and market their fruits and vegetables which will see fruits and vegetables transportation in a preserved form.

The highly perishable nature of vegetables causes rapid deterioration in quality. Improper packing and packaging can reduce quality during transport.

The Minister said, around 40 percent of the harvest packing in sacks damage fruits and vegetables when they are transported to the market. Therefore, the Institution of Post Harvest Technology had introduced this new plastic packaging system aiming to minimize the waste and damages during fruits and vegetables transportation. Accordingly, the Institution is engaged in providing plastic packs to farmers at concessionary rates. At present, vegetables and fruits from Jaffna , Dambulla, Thambuththegama, Keppetipola, Thalawakele, Puttalam are transported to the DECs in Narahenpita.

Meanwhile, the Ministry has also taken steps to provide plastic packages worth of Rs.400,000 to vegetable and fruit farmers in the Western Province as an initiative of this project.