Hayleys Agro wins another award for boosting agriculture

Hayleys Agro Products Limited (HAPL), Sri Lanka's leading marketer of inputs for the agriculture sector has won yet another prestigious accolade for its multi-faceted contribution to the evolution of the sector.

The company, which is commercially involved in virtually every stage of the life cycle of agro produce, was presented the Gold Award in the Agriculture and Plantations category last week at the National Business Excellence Awards conducted by the National Chamber of Commerce.

Hayleys Director and HAPL Managing Director Rizvi Zaheed said new investments in bio technology that will revolutionise some aspects of agriculture and a demonstrated commitment to knowledge integration, capacity building and sustainability were among the key factors that won the company this important award.

Hayleys Agro has floated a new company Hayleys Agro Biotech and invested Rs 65 million to-date in a state-of-the-art tissue culture laboratory and related facilities to produce early-generation seed potato, horticultural plantlets, phyto chemicals, essential oils and oleo resins, harnessing modern biotechnology to improve produce quality, yields, outputs and productivity and open up new avenues for revenue generation, he said.

Further investments will be made in new generation agriculture as the company expands in scope and capacity. These initiatives have been supported by the introduction over the past five years, of new products and services to build capacity in traditional agriculture.

These include mechanical devices such as combine harvesters, combine threshers and mechanical reapers that improve productivity even in the face of labour shortages, new high-yielding plant varieties and seed paddy, new agro chemicals and special target-specific blends of fertiliser to combat rising prices.