Govt to ease pepper farmers problems in Haldummulla

The policy of the Government is to give priority to finding quick solutions to the problems of the farming community and to implement these solutions in a practical way, Prof. G. L. Peiris, Minister of Export Development and International Trade, said in Haldummulla while he was addressing a meeting of pepper producers in the region, recently.

The pepper farmers had to contend with a fall in prices, and Minister Peiris brought together the Export Development Board and the private sector to arrive at a solution.

He told the farmers' organisations that a loan of Rs. 25 million had been successfully negotiated with the DFCC Bank, and that two companies in the private sector had agreed to work with the Export Development Board to bring about an increase in the sum paid to the farmers as the purchase price of pepper. As a result of this, the pepper producers will immediately receive an additional Rs. 25 per kilo of pepper.

In the medium and long term, Minister Peiris continued, the pepper industry would benefit from the use of carbonic fertilizer, and assistance in this regard would be made available by the Ministry.

Prof. Peiris emphasised that the Government is committed to addressing economic imperatives in total harmony with environmental considerations.

Champika Ranawaka, Minister for the Environment and Natural Resources and Udaya Gammanpila, Minister for Agriculture and the Environment in the Western Provincial Council, were associated with Minister Peiris.

Anil Koswatte, Chairman of the Export Development Board, and officials of the Board took part.

Later in the evening a meeting of all farmers' organisations in the area was held in Haputale to brief them about the Government's initiatives to confer benefits on the farmers, with special reference to packaging and marketing.

Ministers G. L. Peiris and Bandula Gunawardena, Deputy Minister Siripala Gamlath, Provincial Ministers Udaya Gammanpila and Upali Kodikara and Mayor Kanthi Kodikara participated.