Sri Lanka’s agriculture sector loses over Rs. 100 billion due to crop damage by animals and post-harvest losses, Minister of Plantation, Dr. Ramesh Pathirana told guests at the opening of the Pro Food, Pro Pack and Ag-biz 2022 exhibition.
Lanka’s only comprehensive food, agriculture and packaging exhibition which opened its doors to the public and trade visitors at the BMICH on Friday, concludes today, November 20.
The Minister said that food crops to the value of over Rs. 55 billion was lost every year due to animals, mainly elephants, invading the plantations.
He told Sunday Observer Business, “The Cabinet of Ministers discussed this issue and is exploring the possibility of driving some of the elephants to national parks. Plans are also underway to add more land areas to these parks after consulting naturalists.”
The Minister said that Sri Lanka’s post-harvest loss is over Rs. 50 billion. “This too has been a burning issue for the sector for many years and we appeal to the private sector to come out with new technology to overcome this issue.”
Due to economic constraints the government will not be able to invest directly towards this. “However we will also help by looking at R&D using government machinery to provide solutions for this.”
Arrangements will also be made to increase the quantity of food and vegetables being transported using the railway services. This can reduce the quantity of diesel used for lorry transport and also due to the train’s fast transport, post-harvest losses could be minimised to a great degree.
He also thanked exporters for helping to achieve USD 2 billion in exports last year notwithstanding the tremendous hardships faced by them.
This is the 19th edition of the Pro Food, Pro Pack and Ag-biz organised by the Sri Lanka Food Processors Association and Lanka Exhibition and Conference Services (Pvt) Ltd (LECS). The exhibition is supported and endorsed by the Ministry of Industries and The Ministry of Agriculture.
The event which has witnessed an evolutionary increase over the decades is being held on the theme “Farm to the fork” denoting the entire chain of the food industry.
“The expo could not be held for the past two years due to the global pandemic. But now, with the opening of events in Sri Lanka, all the stalls have been sold out and over 50 companies from India too are participating and this year’s event is promoted by The Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM),” said Delano Dias of the Sri Lanka Agri Business Council.