Floriculture project gets Rs 100 m

Priyanka Kurugala

The Government has allocated Rs 100 million to the National Botanical Gardens Department for the floriculture project, Peradeniya Royal Botanical Gardnes Director Siril Wijesundara said.

Floriculture which consists of the cultivation of flowering and ornamental plants and as well as foliage is a rapidly emerging sector with a 15 percent global annual growth, he said.

The project called 'Enhancing living standards through floriculture' will be implemented by the National Botanical Gardens Department in Kegalle, Gampaha and Avissawella areas. The project will be directly connected to the export sector, he said.

Cultivators will be selected and provided with a special incentive package. Growers have already been registered under Suwahas Mal societies in these areas. People, who are experienced in growing flowers and also have their own land, would be given priority under this project, Wijesundara said.

This program has been initiated, to make lives of farmers sustainable through transformation needed to improve returns from agriculture and change farmers' lives, he said. It has been reported that penetration of floriculture into the farming system in many Asian countries has slowly converted subsistence cropping into profitable and viable farming enterprises, Wijesundera said. After the establishment of this project with Government support, the role that floriculture plays in poverty alleviation of rural farmers will be enhanced, he said.

Floriculture has contributed to increase foreign exchange earnings in Sri Lanka in the past decade. Besides export to international markets, local requirements too are on the rise, Wijesundera said. "Activities to be undertaken under the proposed project are large.

It is envisaged that foliage plants would be priority crops selected according to the prevailing climatic conditions. Selected growers will be given a special incentive package to establish nurseries with inputs of new technology and quality mother plants to produce high quality floriculture products suitable for both the local and export markets," he said.