|
Call to protect industry:
Big demand for Sri Lanka cinnamon
Ramani Kangaraarachchi
|
Cinnamon |
Sri Lanka's cinnamon has a big demand in the international market but
there is a danger of losing this valuable market as a result of poor
output levels of cinnamon cultivation, Managing Director, G.P. De Silva
and Sons International (Pvt) Ltd, G. Lal De Silva told Daily News
Business.
Although the export volume of cinnamon is larger this year compared
to last year the profit margins are very low due to the shortage of
supply. "Sri Lanka is the only country which exports high quality
cinnamon but unless we protect the industry by taking measures to
cultivate cinnamon sufficiently the country will lose a huge amount of
foreign exchange", De Silva said.
A product known as Cassia in Indonesia, similar to cinnamon will
replace our cinnamon in the future in the event of Sri Lanka failing to
meet the demand. However, a metric ton of Cassia costs only USD 1,000
whereas a MT of cinnamon costs USD 8000, he said.
De Silva said that cinnamon growers must be educated and motivated on
the benefits they can gain by receiving a good harvest because they are
not aware of the importance of growing a valuable export item.
Therefore, they do not prune the plants on time and maintain them with
proper fertilizing and as a result the harvest drops. |
