One-thousand home gardens for A'pura:

Ceylon Agro to invest Rs. 10m on maize cultivation

Ramani Kangaraarachchi in Anuradhapura

Ceylon Agro and Multi-Service (Pvt) Ltd will invest Rs. 10 million this year on maize cultivation under the Maize Cultivation Project in the North Central Province.

Managing Director, Ceylon Agro and Multi-Service (Pvt) Ltd. P.A. Chandrapala said that 6,000 acres of land will be cultivated for the next season under this project.

He said that every farmer will be given Rs.25,000 per acre as a Bank of Ceylon loan to cultivate maize. Seeds, fertilizer and guidelines will be given to farmers. The total harvest will be purchased by the company in March 2010 at the rate of Rs.28 per kilogramme. Therefore, farmers do not have to worry about selling it to the market, he said.

The company imports about 500 tons of seeds to be distributed among farmers and five kilos of seeds will be planted in each acre.

There are about 2,500 farmers in the country engaged in maize cultivation and a large number of members in their families make a living out of it. At present there are about 20 companies engaged in maize cultivation in the Anuradhapura district and around 80,000 to 100,000 acres are cultivated every season.

Sri Lanka is almost self-sufficient in maize as 60-70 percent of the country's requirement is grown and the Government has imposed heavy taxes on imports of maize to protect the local industry, he said. Most of the havest is sold to the Prima Company.

Chandrapala also said that plans are under way to launch one-thousand homegardens in the Anuradhapura district as a welfare measure for the people. One-thousand youth will be selected and trained in new technology for the project. Chandrapala said that the farmers need this knowledge which is very vital.

A quarter acre of land with a well will be given to each farmer and the harvest will be used for their day-to-day life. The company will do this through sponsorships of companies involved in Agri business, he said.