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| Monday, 8 September 2003 |
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| Lanka must change food habits, says Minister Kandy South Group Correspondent Sri Lanka must change the food habits which should be based on local products, said Central Region Development Minister, Tissa Attanayake. The Central region has a higher production in vegetables, potatoes and animal products. The region claims a prominent place in agriculture productivity and national income, he said. Addressing a workshop on Modern Agriculture for Development of Central Region organised by the Ministry of Central Region Development at the auditorium of the Plant Genetic Resource Centre, Gannoaruwa, Peradeniya, he said milk production is comparatively higher in this region than in other areas. A major part of the physical infrastructure is directly involved in agriculture. The Mahaweli reservoirs and a vast number of irrigation tanks and canals in the dry zone area are also in the Central region, the minister said. Attanayake said according to the Central Bank report of 2002 the total contribution of the agriculture sector to the GDP is about 20 per cent at national level. "We produced 2.8 million metric tonnes of paddy at the last Maha. I believe that at least 26 per cent of this amount was contributed by the Central region. At least 50 per cent of our labour force in the region earn their living in agriculture,'' the minister said. "We have a problem of selling paddy. We have to re-organise the paddy purchasing system and also change our food habits which should be based on local products," he said. "We should also draw our attention to pay higher prices to dairy farmers for their milk. We should have a policy and measures to improve the income of poor farmers practising traditional or conventional systems of agriculture," the minister said. Attanayake said the cost of production in agriculture should be reduced to increase profits. "We have to be prepared for international computation in marketing agricultural produce," he said. Attanayake said the agricultural sector should be mobilised to meet the different challenges locally and internationally. The minister believed that we should pay attention to obtain better solutions as remedial action to solve problems in the agriculture sector. He said when the Ministry of Central Region Development was established they had to face two major problems which were under utilisation of foreign funds allocated to the region and seek ways and means to increase the productivity in different sections to assure economic growth and social welfare. "This workshop is one way that we seek solution to these problems. At the end of the workshop we will receive some conclusive strategies for the development of the agriculture sector in our region," Attanayake said. Prof. Ananda Jayakody, Ananda Jayawardana and Palitha Elkaduwa also addressed the workshop. |
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