Fruit research to ensure year-round supply

By Gamini Warushamana

Fruit consumption has dropped sharply in recent months as a result of consumers being concerned over artificial ripening methods and the health risks associated with the fruits available in the market, said the Additional Director General (Research) of the Department of Agriculture Dr. (Ms) E.M. Dassanayake. She said that this situation has further reduced fruit consumption in the country which was at a low level. “Consumption habits of the people should be changed to reduce non-communicable diseases such as diabetes. We eat more rice and less fruits and vegetables and we have to change this composition by increasing the share of fruits and vegetables in the diet.

“We need a minimum of 200g of fruits a day in our diet but according to estimates our average consumption is less than 100g. The major obstacle in increasing fruit consumption is the high price of fruits and there are issues in the supply chain,” she said.

“Some fruits are seasonal and, therefore, not available throughout the year. Agriculture research on fruit crops is focused on addressing these issues to ensure fruit supply throughout the year,” Dassanayake said.Although there are lot of fruit varieties in the country only 15 varieties have commercial value.

Land under fruit cultivation is estimated at around 150,000 hectares and annual production is 700,000 tonnes. This is not sufficient to cater to the demand and as a result the prices are always unaffordable for common people. In 2013, Sri Lanka imported apples worth $ 19.8 million, grapes - $ 11.2 million and oranges - $ 5.2 million. This foreign exchange outflow can be stopped by increasing local fruit production and promoting it among consumers.

Innovative cultivation methods to change seasonal cropping of fruits and develop crop varieties to suit different climatic conditions have been successful.

Pineapple is no longer a seasonal crop and harvesting is possible throughout the year. Rambuttan varieties have also been developed to suit the dry zone and, therefore, we will see rambuttan in the market most times of the year.

“We have developed new varieties of green orange with better taste and nutritional value but yet the consumers prefer the imported orange which is orange in colour. We are conducting field trials to produce orange-coloured oranges as well,” she said.

The Department Agriculture with the Ministry of Education launched a program to increase fruit consumption in the country a few years ago and launched fruit stalls in schools.

“Our objective is to promote fruit consumption among students by providing good quality fruits at affordable prices. A fruit stall was opened at Swarnamali College in Kandy in 2012 and we are expanding the program,” Dr. Dassanayake said.