Pesticide free sticker to secure premium price for betel exports

by Surekha Galagoda

All betel exported by the betel Farmers People's company "Seemasahitha (Janatha) Epaladeniya Krushi Vyavasaya Samagama" will carry a sticker in the future to confirm it is pesticide free.

This will help farmers get a premium price for their product and we are planning to implement a special program to educate and train betel farmers to obtain a certificate from the Export Agriculture Department, said Deputy Director Export Agriculture Division EDB Chandani Dias Abeyagunawardene.

She said that at present too the agricultural methods used by the farmers are pesticide free and even when pests attack the betel crop they use alternative methods to get rid of them. Therefore we thought of taking advantage of it to get a premium price.

Abeyagunawardene said that all betel exported to Pakistan by the Epaladeniya Company is branded as Epaladeniya betel with a special sticker on each basket.

She said that the Betel development program Bulath Arunella was launched to bring a solution to the many problems faced by the betel farmers in the country by the Ministry of Agriculture, Department of Export Agriculture, EDB and the Second Perennial Crop Development Project 2004.

Two programs were implemented under the Bulath Arunella to strengthen the people's company which included participating in the seventh SAARC trade Fair in Karachi to display betel leaves and other agro based products and organising a betel market study mission for betel farmer representatives and officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, Department of Export Agriculture and the EDB.

She said that they have received very good inquiries for tamarind, fresh coconuts, copra, ginger and lime. At present we are processing the inquiries.

During the study mission they met buyers and discussed the quality of the betel they are exporting, how to improve packaging and the moisture level in packaging depending on the season, They were also able to meet retailers and consumers, observe the clearance of their cargo, meet customs officers, study the duty structure and other levies, visit a ' Pan shed' the auction room where the betel is auctioned, how the betel is prepared for consumption and also visit a betel farm 100 kilometres away from Karachi.

We had to get special permission to visit the betel farm and the Betel Importers and Retailers Association collaborated the program, Abeyagunawardene said.

The main objective of the Bulath Arunella program is to increase the bargaining power of the betel farmers by grouping them to face the market forces in the open market effectively. She said that under the program betel farmers were initially encouraged to form village level farmer associations.

Subsequently 256 'Govijana Bala Pradesha ' level associations were formed from the village level associations and at the third stage two district level associations were formed in the Kurunegala and Gampaha districts. From the two apex farmer federations in these two districts the people's company the Seemasahitha (Janatha)Epaladeniya Krushi Vyavasaya Samagama was formed to export betel under the tariff quota received under the Pakistan Sri Lanka FTA.

Under the FTA Pakistan has allowed 1200 MT of betel leaves to be exported with a 35% margin of preference on the applied MFN rate of import duty (Pakistani Rs 97.50 instead of Pakistani Rs 150).

She said that following a request by the Betel steering committee the Ministry of Trade, Commerce and Consumer Affairs granted 20% of the quota equivalent to 240 MT to the people's company. The company commenced operations in March 2006 and has already shipped 6,500 baskets (58MT) of betel leaves and has earned Rs 12 million in foreign exchange.

Abeyagunawardene said that Sri Lanka became the leader in the betel export market in 2004 securing a market share of 73%. Total export earnings increased from Rs 117 million in 2001 to Rs 254 million in 2005. Pakistan has been the single largest buyer of betel for many years and Sri Lanka has a 93% market share. Weekly exports of betel leaves to Pakistan are around 45 metric tons.