Agri-schemes in Vavuniya to support IDPs

Representatives from Plenty Foods (Pvt) Ltd, a subsidiary of Ceylon Biscuits, in discussion with IDP farmers in Vavuniya.

In an endeavour to rehabilitate and uplift the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North and the East, Plenty Foods (Pvt) Ltd., a subsidiary of the group CBL (Ceylon Biscuits Ltd), manufacturers of Samaposha, the locally produced breakfast cereal, will train re-settled IDP farmers in Vavuniya, where they would be initiated to grow corn and subsequently soya and green-gram on a backward integration policy on a buy back agreement at a minimum guaranteed price. These products will be processed for the manufacture of Samaposha. The Company’s CSR aim is to ensure a steady income to the farmers and elevate their living conditions. Samaposha is a nutritious food supplement invaluable for children, pregnant women and lactating mothers.

Samaposha is acknowledged to have a very high nutritional value and is considered by the Health Authorities to adequately support children who are suffering from wasting and stunting. The product is ideally suited to check malnutrition which causes low IQ level, visual defects, speech, hearing and behavioural problems, and addressing human debility in all forms. The product is high in protein and vitamin and provides 30% to 50% or more of Recommended Dietary Allowance of 3-5 year old children with just two servings.

The Government allotted 10 acres of land to set up a Model Farm in Chettikulum under the concept One village One Product to carry out training programs on cultivation of crops and for post harvest storage. The Company would provide seeds and farming equipment to streamline production and ensure a high quality of produce. The Company embarked firstly, on the cultivation of corn in around 250 acres of land. The next stage would be to extend cultivation of Soya and Green Gram into other areas.

Plenty Foods maintains an effective implementation of a backward integration program with farmers in the dry zone where Soya Bean, Green Gram, Corn and Ground Nut, Kurrakkan are grown.