Govt gives incentives to growers

The Government is extending many incentives to growers of tea, rubber and coconut to increase yield and productivity and thereby the foreign exchange said Plantation Industries Minister D.M. Jayaratna.

He said, that all three crops are needed by the international community as tea is a health drink and therefore the quality is high while it has been proved that synthetic rubber is not good for health therefore the demand for natural rubber will increase in the future.

Minister D.M. Jayaratna.

To cultivate a hectare of tea the Government gives Rs. 200,000 as an incentive in addition to giving the necessary incentives to prepare factories to manufacture high quality tea. We have also taken steps to produce tea plants according to the soil which is tested.

The Government is also planning to increase the tea saplings by 2% . The other steps taken by the Government are manufacturing crates to transport the leaves without damage as well as rebuilding the roads.

The persons employed in the estates are given many benefits as they are the people who toil hard daily be it sun or rain. We have even changed the names used for example labourer to tea producer.

In the rubber sector too we have introduced new varieties which give more sap and the trunk of the trees are large so that at the time of selling the tree for wood the people can obtain a higher price. In addition we have given rain guards and knives free while the ministry pays Rs 125,000 for a hectare for planting of rubber.

We have planted 100,000 trees and the factories are supporting this venture.

It has been decided that the lands in Anuradhapura and the East is suitable for rubber cultivation and the decision will be implemented in the near future. In addition we are also having discussions with international manufacturers to start joint ventures for the manufacture of gloves and tyres in Sri Lanka.

In addition the Government has established nurseries to grow coconut in the East, Anuradhapura and Jaffna under which it is planned to grow 20 mn trees. We are targeting to earn Rs. 100 bn from the export for coconut products only from next year.

Earlier the Government permitted to import palm oil but now we don't as we want to promote the production of coconut oil which is said to be a healthy product. The country at present exports 45,000 metric tons of desiccated coconut and earns a revenue of Rs. 4,952 mn annually.

The Government even gets involved in using coconut shells to make activated carbon and it is done in three districts.

He said that 1500 agents have been appointed to collect the coconut husks and the coir which a Chinese company has agreed to purchase. The Government has given 250 machines to make coir and these machines are given to persons all over the island.

At present the coconut stretch from Galle to Hambantota has been affected by the Weligama wild sickness and therefore we don't permit the transportation of coconut or related products to other districts in an effort to stop the sickness spreading into other areas. In addition the healthy trees around the sick trees have been removed while it is believed that the use of organic fertilizer reduced the spread of the disease.

Therefore, the ministry has taken steps to increase the manufacture of organic fertilizer.

SG