Serendib Horticulture expands global presence

Indunil HEWAGE

Serendib Horticulture Technologies (Pvt) Ltd, one of the leading horticulture companies in Sri Lanka is moving to expand its local and global presence sharing local know-how and knowledge with foreign governments while supporting agriculture research and export production in Sri Lanka.

Located in Kalagedihena in Gampaha, Serendib Horticulture Technologies is the leading company in plant bio-technology, where many different varieties are produced through tissue culture technology.

The plants include many ornamental plants, fruit plants, banana, pineapple, potato and strawberry and others and is committed to produce superior quality plants with timely delivery.

The company is into exporting flowers, fruits and vegetable plants to Holland ,Denmark, Japan, USA, Germany, South Korea ,Bahrain, Qatar and UAE and is engaged in doing productions for local customers as well.

A total of 120 people are directly employed at the company while another 60 are indirectly employed as suppliers.

The main tissue culture laboratory in Kalagedihena is capable of producing three million plants per year and a team of qualified scientists and technicians trained in the areas of plant physiology tissue culture manage the laboratory.

The company has nurseries in Chilaw and Ambepussa.

The Ambepussa project produces flower bulbs and various vegetable varieties, Serendib Horticulture Technologies Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dilip de Silva said.

Dole Corporation, which is the world’s biggest fruit company is the major local customer of Serendib Horticulture Technologies and the company has been contracted to produce pineapple and banana plants through tissue culture for Dole Corporation’s plant in Buttala.

The end of war has opened new vistas for agriculture industry and company is flooded with inquiries from farmers in the former war torn areas for plants produced through tissue culture.

The company is also engaged in supplying Nethrampalam and other banana varieties to local farmers in Uva, Embilipitiya, Vavuniya and Ampara areas while providing information to all its customers on the cultivation of plants.

The company has a subsidiary in Qatar named Serendib Horticulture Technologies Middle East WLL and looking at set up another subsidiary in the Northern province with the assistance of the Jaffna University.

In 2006, the company won an international tender to conduct a feasibility study for the Ministry of Agriculture in Qatar to set up a biotechnology centre in Doha.

The company successfully completed the study and made recommendations to the Ministry to set up a regional centre for the GCC countries.

Subsequently, the company has been selected by the state of Qatar for capacity building and technology transfer for the biotechnology centre in Doha.

Initially a one year contract has been awarded. This is the first time in the history that a Sri Lankan company in agriculture has been hired by a foreign government to advocate the government on training and technology transfer.

The company has a separate unit to cater to the local market.

The company also has a public-private partnership agreement with the Ministry of Fisheries, where the company manages a commercial tissue culture facility for aquatic plants in Rideegama in Kurunagala.

The company has an MoU with the Peradeniya University in collaborating on research and are also looking at opportunities where local scientists could work at the biotechnology centre in Qatar.

The company has embarked on a vegetable breeding project to produce hybrid varieties of tomatoes and chillies and it is in the development stage. The company is optimistic of coming up with food varieties that are more adaptable to local conditions.

In the global front, the horticulture industry posts nearly eight percent growth rate per annum and Sri Lanka has not been able to keep up with this growth rate.

According to de Silva, making a boom in the local horticulture industry is not a formidable task since the country is blessed with a talented workforce, favourable weather and climatic conditions along with enormous natural resources.

Lack of consistent policies towards the horticulture industry and non availability of vast arable lands for foreign investors to invest in Sri Lanka have hampered the growth potential of the industry to a greater extent.

The growth potential of the local horticulture industry has been affected by the increasing cost of air freight and non-availability of direct flights from Sri Lanka to Amsterdam, which is the main hub for the international horticulture business.

As far as exports are concerned, Sri Lanka is probably the number one in the SAARC region since India is mainly concentrating on the local market rather than the export market.

However, Asian countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia are far ahead of Sri Lanka as a result of consistent and far sighted polices formulated by these governments for the betterment of the horticulture industry.

Commenting on the Export Development Board’s assistance to local exporters, Silva said, they have been working with the EDB ever since their inception. The EDB has been very helpful to them as far as getting into new markets and SHPL has managed to develop fruitful trade relationships with potential countries and EDB support has always been much appreciated.