Plenty Foods to train IDP farmers

Plenty Foods (Pvt) Ltd., a subsidiary of the group CBL (Ceylon Biscuits Ltd), manufacturers of Samaposha, will train re-settled IDP farmers in Vavuniya, where they would be initiated to grow corn and subsequently Soya and Green-gram on a backward integration policy on a buy back agreement at a minimum guaranteed price.

These products will be processed for the manufacture of Samaposha.

The Company's CSR aim is to ensure a steady income to the farmers and improve their living conditions. Samaposha is a nutritious food supplement for children, pregnant women and lactating mothers.

The Government allotted 10 acres of land to set up a Model Farm in Chettikulum under the concept "One village - One Product" to carry out training program on cultivation of crops and for post harvest storage. The Company would provide seeds and farming equipment to streamline production and ensure a high quality of produce. The Company embarked on the cultivation of corn in around 250 acres of land. The next stage would be to extend cultivation of Soya and Green Gram into other areas.

Plenty Foods maintains an effective implementation of a backward integration program with farmers in the Dry Zone where Soya Bean, Green Gram, Corn and Ground Nut, Kurrakkan are grown. Over 12,000 farmers benefit from the program that helps develop Sri Lanka's farming community while strengthening and enriching the nation's agricultural economy.

The Company pays Rs. 600 million annually for raw materials purchased from farmers. The Dry Zone farmers of the North Central and Uva Provinces have benefited from this program. The Company's well-structured extension network provides technical know-how and good management practices to the farmers and the monitoring activities that go hand in hand with this program helps to ensure higher yields as well.

The Rs. 10 million agricultural program in Vavuniya will be organised on the same lines as the Dry Zone projects. The Company envisages to work along with a Bank to grant cultivation loans to farmers so that seed, fertilizer and chemicals could be provided under the Forward Sales Contract scheme initiated by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.