Category: Agriculture

Nov 14, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s fishery sector needs more data on resource stocks, especially in war-torn Northern areas, new techniques and improvements in post harvest handling, a think tank has said. In 2008 fish production in Sri Lanka’s eastern province had increased to 70,520 metric tonnes from 39,760 tonnes a year earlier. In […]

Nov 10, 2010 (LBO) – India will build 5,000 homes for workers on Sri Lanka’s plantations in the central hills which are a key sector of the island economy, a statement from the Indian High Commission said. Indian High Commissioner Ashok Kantha announced the stepping up of Indian assistance for people in the hill country […]

Nov 05, 2010 (LBO) – Broadband download speeds delivered by Dialog Axiata, Sri Lanka’s dominant mobile operator, exceed expectations although its main rival Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) does better on other measurements, a report said. Dialog’s 1Mbps (megabytes per second) post-paid broadband package delivers more than promised in download speeds, recent Quality of Service Experience […]

Nov 04, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Cargills will strengthen its presence in the island’s dairy sector by taking over three processing plants and having broader access to farmers, the company said in a statement. “The acquisition of Kotmale Holdings PLC comes in the wake of these identified opportunities and potential for sustainable long term […]

Nov 01, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has slashed import taxes on vegetable oils, potatoes and onions to encourage imports as local prices rose, a senior finance ministry official said. S R Attygalle, director general fiscal policy, said the import tax on coconut oil has been cut to 15 rupees a kilo or 15 percent, […]

Oct 31, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s raw coconuts prices hit another high this week pushing average farm gate prices up 26. 5 percent over the past two months, as import protection remained tight amid higher global prices for substitutes. At Thursday’s auctions in Colombo average prices rose 894 rupees to 33,910 rupees for a […]

Oct 29, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Kelani Valley Plantations made a net profit of 36 million rupees in the September 2010 quarter owing to strong rubber and stable tea prices, a stock exchange filing said. The company is recovering from losses a year ago with the loss in the September quarter of 2009 being […]

Oct 27, 2010 (LBO) – Use of mobile phones has helped Sri Lankan farmers get better prices for their produce and the technology can help reduce poverty, according to a new United Nations study, officials said. “There is an informational dimension to poverty – poor people need lots of information for their livelihoods such as […]

Oct 25, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea production fell slightly in September 2010 compared with a year ago although output for the nine months were much higher than in the same period for 2009, the Tea Board said. Tea production in September fell five percent to 26. 4 million kilos from the previous year, […]

Oct 25, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has received 20 bids from vendors in nine countries for a satellite-based vessel monitoring system tender which will be awarded before the end of the year, fisheries minister Rajitha Senaratne said. “We found choosing the vendor more difficult than we first thought. We have sought seeking expert help […]

Oct 15, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s plantations industry is looking to extend a productivity linked pay scheme when talks on renewing a wage deal with labour unions begin early next year, an official said. Lalith Obeysekere, chairman of the Planters’ Association, which represents regional plantations corporations, said the industry is satisfied with gains from […]

Oct 13, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Cargills, the island’s largest retail chain said it had added farmers from the former war-torn north to its country wide network that keeps its outlets supplied with fruits and vegetables. “We have added 1,600 farmers from the North,” Cargills chief Ranjith Page told the annual annual sessions of […]