NAC Farmer Awards 2010

The annual Farmer Awards was organised by the National Agribusiness Council and launched in 2006 to encourage and educate farmers, The fifth award ceremony was held on August 22, at the BMICH concurrently with the Ag-Biz Trade fair.

Best Farmer D.A.S. Kumara Dandeniya from Dambulla receiving his gift voucher

It was a very successful event with a large number of applications from the North and the East.

This really encourages us to continue the event in future, said the Secretary of the National Agribusiness Council Rohitha Nanayakkara.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture Jagath Pushpakumara was the chief guest at the Farmer Awards ceremony. The Additional Secretary to the Ministry, the Chairman of Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Dr. Anura Ekanayake and Chairman SLFPA Rohantha De Fonseka, were also among the invitees. A. Baur & Co. were the sponsors of Farmer Awards 2010 and the Best Farmer D.A.S. Kumara Dandeniya from Dambulla received a gift voucher from A. Baur & Co. to the value of Rs.100,000/=. The first runner-up A.P. Roja Sritharan from Mannar received a Centric Type Pumping Unit and the second runner-up P.H. Ranjan from a Hambantota received a TH 2T Thresher which was donated by Jinasena Pvt Ltd.

District winners received a plaque and certificate. In addition each winner received a CDMA phone donated by Sri Lanka Telecom and a gift voucher to purchase vegetable seeds from Best Seeds Co. Ltd.

The Farmer applications were evaluated by a competent panel of agriculturalists from the private and public sectors. Based on the information provided by the applicant, farm visits were made to the potential winners' fields and on the spot evaluations were done by the panel members.