Agriculture profitable for Mahaweli H farmers

by Lalin FERNANDOPULLE

Sri Lanka could be self-suffiecient in agricultural produce provided a proper plan is in place to make maximum use of land and protect farmers from exploitation.

Sri Lanka, known as the granary of the East will lose its image if adequate attention is not given to develop the agricultural sector.

Vast stretches of land in many parts of the country yet lie uncultivated or abandoned due to lack of motivation or an absence of a stable market to sell the produce.

A farmer in Thambuthegama narates his success story

The hopes of many farmers in Thambuthegama and in the surrounding villages in the North Cenral region have been revived with a stable market and a better price for their produce provided by Keells Super, a premier supermarket chain operator in the country.

Keells Super's collecting centre purchases produce of farmers in Thambuthegama, Eppawala, Kalankuttiya, Makulawa, Pahalagama, Gurugama, Pothiyagama, Nawakkulama and Theldeniya. Senior Manager-Sourcing, Jaykay Marketing Services (Pvt) Ltd., Nihal Senerath said the collection centre was set up in 2005 and since then there has been a major increase in the quantity of the harvest of farmers in the Thambuthegama area.

He was speaking to journalists who visited the collecting centre and met farmers in Thambuthegama area last week.

Senerath said the objectives of setting up the collecting centre were to ensure a stable market and eliminate the middleman.

"There is a marked improvement in the quality of the produce for which a higher price is offered", he said.

A farmer and collector from Makulawa Sunil Abeysekera said that he had given up cultivating since he could not sell the produce on time and had to be at the mercy of the middleman.

"Keells offered us a reasonable price and we have increased our cultivation" he said. Kapila Dissanayake, a papaw grower in Eppawala said he had an order for 800 kilograms and plans to expand the cultivation.

Collecting Centre Co-ordinator,Jagath Abeysinghe said post harvest waste has dropped to around 2 percent due to the improvement in harvesting skills, packaging and transportation.

"While enhancing the quality of all vegetables and fruits grown in the dry zone the company promotes cultivation of dragon fruits for export. Red cabbage and cauliflower are grown and they fetch a good price", he said.

Abeysinghe said the centre buys around 40,000 kilograms of vegetables and fruits to the value of approximately Rs 2.5 million a month.

He said the centre which commenced operations with 10 farmers currently supports over 60 farmer families of the Mahaweli H Zone.