‘SL fruits could fetch better prices in int’l markets’

 Sri Lanka has a better chance to gain good market prices for fruit exports in the international market compared to other South Asian countries due to local farmers using minimal quantities of agro –chemicals for fruit production unlike in vegetables, Agriculture Economist at the Ministry of Agriculture said.

In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture has taken steps to boost fruit exports and to stabilize market supply thereby promoting the use of rain shelters and protected houses.To address the lack of quality seeds available for the cultivation of fruit and vegetables, the ministry has presently initiated an informal seed production program at the farmer level. “The off-season fruit production can also be induced from growth hormones while improving irrigation management.

The ministry has already initiated several projects at the research level to this end,” the official said adding “it is important to improve necessary infrastructure to stabilize the market supply. We hope that this mechanism will contribute to resolve some of the issues faced by farmers.”

Moreover, the ministry has introduced a plant and soil based fertilizer program, under which, the ministry has made recommendations to maximize the use of fertilizer in agriculture, based on selected crop or place.Alternatively, the ministry is planning to promote organic agricultural products which have better market prices compared to the traditional agricultural products.

Despite the lack of infrastructure facilities in the area of cold storage, steps have also been taken at the ministry level to improve cold storage facilities at regional and central locations.

Sri Lanka is currently facing an acute labour shortage in the agriculture sector and shifting and cost of labour has become a major issue which hampers the growth of the industry to a greater level.

Highlighting high cost of production in the vegetable cultivation also as a major challenge, the official mentioned that in terms of vegetables, more than 60 % of the production cost accounts for labour cost.

Apart from that, due to the nature of perishability, Sri Lanka’s post-harvest food losses especially in fruit and vegetable sectors occur within the farm-to-market period during harvesting, handling, storage and etc. According to official statistics, post- harvest losses in fruit and vegetable sector accounts for more than 40%, big onions 35% and rice more than 50% due to malfunctioning of value chain in terms of handling and transport.

Nonetheless, Sri Lanka has a competitive advantage when it comes to exporting banana. In addition of promoting banana, the ministry has already taken steps to promote cultivation of some fruit crops including banana, mango, pineapple, guava, pomegranates and strawberry for export markets.