SL earns $ 36 Mn from agri exports
THE MORNING LK NEWS
8 hours ago | BY Buddhika Samaraweera
400 acres sour/Cavendish banana plantations planned in Embilipitiya, Sevanagala
The Government has earned a sum of $36 million (Mn) by exporting agricultural products in 2022, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.
Speaking to The Daily Morning, an official of the Ministry said that a wide range of agricultural products such as green cucumber, sour banana, mango, pineapple, papaya, moringa leaves, and jumbo peanuts, manufactured under the Agriculture Sector Modernisation Project (ASMP) are being exported. He said that Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera had recently asked for a report on the foreign exchange earned through the export of such products in 2022. The report has been submitted by the relevant authorities and it has revealed that a sum of $36 million has been earned through the export of such.
Remarking on the ASMP, the official said that the complete green cucumber harvest from cultivation in areas such as Batticaloa and Wakare, are exported to Japan. And sour bananas are mostly being exported to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Although there is a huge demand for sour bananas from other countries, he said that Sri Lanka is not in a position as of now to export to other countries as the crop is cultivated according to the relevant standards only in the Rajanganaya and Jaffna areas. As a solution, he said that the Ministry has planned to establish a 400 acre cultivation of sour banana and Cavendish banana varieties in Embilipitiya and Sevanagala areas at a cost of Rs. 150 million. The Ministry is also working to get the farmers who cultivate bananas in other areas to be on par with the relevant standards so that their products can also be exported, he said.
With the serious economic crisis that emerged in the past few years, the foreign exchange reserves of the country went down so much that there was no foreign exchange to import even the essential commodities such as gas, fuel and milk powder. Against that backdrop, the Government, with the aim of strengthening the foreign currency reserves, took steps to reduce imports, and increase exports.