Category: Agriculture

Feb 19, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is planning draconian new laws to limit the rights of coconut farmers to put land to alternative uses and cut import duty on coconut oil as prices soared and a new pest hit groves in the island. Disease and clearance of coconut land for development have helped reduce […]

Feb 14, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea prices are forecast to stay strong this year because of international supply disruptions caused by the violence in Kenya and rising demand from consumers in oil-rich countries, brokers said. “Problems in Kenya will definitely have an impact on global supply during the first quarter of 2008,” brokers […]

Feb 14, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s diversified A. Baur & Company has launched a new powdered milk brand to boost its share in the premiumn infant milk powder business. Baurs says it already has a 20 percent market share in the infant milk powder segment. The product, ‘Enfakid’, developed by US food giant Mead […]

Feb 13, 2008 (LBO) – Prices of Sri Lankan clove have stabilized after a sharp fall last month, a senior official has said. But growers are expected to start harvesting more as prices firm and also to do replanting. Gulam Chatoor of the Spices & Allied Products Producers’ and Traders’ Association (SAPPTA) said producers and […]

Feb 7, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka earned a record one billion dollars from tea exports last year despite a drop in volumes, the island’s tea board said Thursday.Sri Lanka’s high quality aromatic teas are made with tender leafs and buds of the plant botanically known as Camellia Sinenis. Sri Lanka, the world’s largest exporter […]

Jan 29, 2008 (LBO) – The World Bank says Sri Lanka’s agriculture needs more investment to diversify into high value products and boost productivity in order to reduce rural poverty. “Governments around the world and donors such as the World Bank have been under-investing in agriculture,” says Derek Byerlee, a rural strategy adviser to the […]

Jan 25, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea production for 2007 fell by six million kilograms to 304 million kilograms as bad weather and the lagged effects of a strike hit production in the early part of the year, brokers said. Tea prices at the Colombo auctions have remained high in recent weeks and there […]

Jan 21, 2008 (LBO) — Sri Lanka’s exports of desiccated coconut (DC) were far below the island’s potential last year due to insufficient coconuts to keep mills running, exporters said.Sunil Watawala, former president of the DC Millers Association, said DC is the island’s main kernel product that is competitive in international markets as local coconut […]

Jan 16, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan coconut prices which have soared in recent months are expected to ease by end-February as new crops come in but will remain high as world edible oil prices were high, industry officials said. “The shortage of nuts could ease towards the end of February but I’m not sure […]

Jan 14, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has stopped exporting pepper under the Indo-Lanka Free Trade Agreement (FTA) because of restrictions imposed by India, a top exporter has said. Gulam Chatoor, former chairman of the Spices and Allied Products Producers and Traders Association said India’s imposition of a cap of 2,500 tonnes a year on […]

Jan 12, 2008 (LBO) – Pakistan’s removal of a quota on Sri Lankan betel leaf exports has helped raise the quality of life among growers in three of the island’s districts, a government minister said. The government is keen to ensure that the benefits of the island’s burgeoning exports flow down to the villages in […]

Jan 07, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s government should divert funds from agriculture subsidies to improving market linkages of rural farmers on the lines of successful models built by firms like Hayleys and MAS Tropical Food Processors, a new study said. The island has much potential to develop its spices sector mainly consisting of over […]