Facing challenge of self-sufficiency

Country before self should be the guiding principle of all loyal and patriotic citizens as Sri Lanka battles a dual war against economic challenges and terrorism.

Thanks to the unrelenting efforts of our brave Security Forces, Lanka has liberated the entire Eastern Province from the clutches of LTTE terrorists. At the same time, we have to counter LTTE propaganda which has been trying to use human rights as a cover to mislead the international community.

The Government to a great extent, has been successful in giving a true picture of the security situation in the country to the international community. Though the terrorists often attempt to use human rights as an effective tool to win the sympathy of the international community, the Government too has effectively met that challenge.

Apart from the war against the deadliest and most ruthless terrorist organisation in the world, the biggest task before the Government is the soaring fuel, milk food and wheat floor prices in world markets.

Sky-rocketing world crude oil prices have always added to the woes of many countries, except for those with the natural asset. High fuel prices have a direct impact on the economy of a country and we too have to face this reality.

On the other hand, droughts and other natural disasters have seriously affected the dairy industry in Australia and New Zealand. These factors have also contributed to low wheat flour production, resulting in high prices in world markets.

Increasing milk and wheat flour prices has a serious impact on our economy. Though we are self-sufficient in rice, most people consume more flour-based products. Increasing milk food prices add to the cost-of-living.

A country such as Sri Lanka is helpless to meet the challenge of high crude oil prices. It's not the same in the case of high milk food and wheat flour prices.

Sri Lanka has an agro-based culture and economy. Our country is blessed with favourable weather conditions for cultivation. We also have favourable conditions to develop the dairy industry. Hence, Sri Lanka should make every endeavour to encourage its dairy industry.

The Government has launched an ambitious three-year plan to make Sri Lanka self-sufficient in all food crops and limit importing food items. When the Government launched this programme recently, its detractors ridiculed it, saying that the Government was growing rice only on political stages.

The Vap-Magul ceremony has proved in ample measure what the Government is capable of doing. There may not be instant results but in the long run, we could change the attitudes of people and have a generation that would value locally manufactured food and other items.

Speaking at the official 'Vap Magul' ceremony at the Viharagama paddy field in Magalla, Nikaweratiya on Thursday, President Mahinda Rajapaksa stressed the importance of having liquid milk, instead of imported milk powder.

In India, even the poorest of the poor could afford to have a glass of fresh milk and fruits. This is because their production is high. In contrast, most of us in Sri Lanka depend heavily on foodstuffs and other requirements from abroad. We have to rid ourselves of this mentality.

There are times when our farmers try desperately to sell their paddy even at low prices. Sri Lanka had record Yala and Maha harvests in recent times. We should encourage people to eat rice and rice-based products. Our rice flour should be used as an alternative to imported wheat flour.

This would not only give a better price to our farmers but would also help the Government to save valuable foreign exchange that is needed to import wheat and flour.

Similarly, all incentives should be given to develop our dairy industry.

Producing fresh milk alone won't help, unless we have proper collection and distribution centres. By doing so in a systematic manner we could also improve the living standard of local dairy farmers.

Despite the efforts to achieve self-sufficiency, the Government has already initiated several projects to win this battle too. What is needed to make this program a success is the support, effort, commitment and co-operation of every citizen, irrespective of his or her ethnicity, religion or political affiliations. This would help the Government to accomplish this task through the 'Api Wawamu Rata Nagamu' campaign.

Farmers are now getting the highest price for their products. In this backdrop, consumers have to pay more. The authorities must formulate a fair pricing mechanism to protect both the farmer and the consumer. The Government alone cannot battle this economic war. Since public assistance and commitment are needed to win the battle against terrorism, people should help in the battle against new world economic trends.

If we are self-sufficient in food, Sri Lanka could stand stronger and meet all future challenges.