Research on high yielding agri crops vital

Call to allocate sufficient funds:

Charumini de Silva

With fast economic growth sufficient investments have to be made on research based on local conditions, National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka (NCCSL) President Lal de Alwis told Daily News Business.

“It is timely the Government, universities and institutes focus on research and development (R and D) allocate sufficient funds to the agricultural industry at affordable prices,” he said.

He said areas where research is needed are for high yielding quality agricultural crops such as maize, soya beans, sunflower oil, fruits and vegetables and other agricultural crops that are abundantly grown in Sri Lanka.

Agriculture development is important to Sri Lanka for many reasons such as a rural sector employment provider, food supplier and supplier of raw material to the local processing industry.

“It also helps to stop urban migration and retain foreign exchange spent on food imports. Therefore, it is crucial that the agriculture sector is developed with more investments,” Alwis said.

A significant percentage of maize is imported to the country, although maize is grown well in Sri Lanka.

Soya beans, sunflower and palm oil are also imported for animal feed and as a substitute for coconut oil.

Since all these crops are well grown in Sri Lanka, we must encourage cultivation of them to save the heavy outflow of foreign exchange.

The introduction of modern technology in cultivating and processing of such crops is vital,” he said. The post harvest losses on agro and fisheries products are high due to the insufficient application of proper post harvest waste minimizing technology, where packaging occupies a prime place.

It is estimated that the total post harvest loss is 25 percent due to improper packaging and transportation.

“Time has come for Sri Lanka to regain our historical position as a nation self-sufficient in food and grains,” Alwis said.