Vegies and fruits transport only plastic crates from today [September 01 2011]

As a measure to minimize wastage of vegetables and fruits due to improper transportation, it is required to transport these farm produce in plastic crates to the market from today, the Cooperatives and Internal Trade Ministry said.

The Ministry plans to educate the farmers, traders and collectors on the use of plastic containers for transportation. The crates will be provided at a concessionary to the farmers.

The Ministry research shows that by introducing this move, over 40 percent post-harvest wastage in the agriculture sector can be reduced as a large percentage of vegetables get wasted due to improper use of packaging in delivery.

Minister Johnston Fernando said over Rs. 20 billion could be saved annually if the plastic crates are used to transport produce.