Army to promote agro industry

The Sri Lanka Army, broadening its horizons further into large scale agro-industry, farming and dairy products entered into a joint cultivation venture with Letsgrow (Pvt) Ltd for cultivations in selected Army-owned lands, farms and formations across the country after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the lessee and the Sri Lanka Army early this week. The new agreement with the private firm, which has potential buyers for agricultural products, here and aboard will provide state-of-the-art foreign expertise and training opportunities to Army personnel on the latest agro-industry practices once they commence work on the farms.

The MoU was signed between the Commander of the Army Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya and Promodya Wickramasinghe, Director, Letsgrow (Pvt) Ltd.The first agricultural farm at the Army's Kandekadu farm, covering some 3,000 acres as the pilot project of this agreement where the private firm is expected to grow bananas and pineapples providing employment to civil sector workers as the project reaches its full capacity within a few years with the support of the Army administration.

The project has received the fullest backing from Secretary Defence Gotabhaya Rajapaksa as the country, is now set to venture into many non-traditional crops as agricultural practices and methods in the world are fast changing with innovative challenges.