Category: Agriculture
Slower but more stable growth path appropriate strategy for North: report
Feb 22, 2019 (LBO) – An economic growth path that is slower but more stable which invests in communities to strengthen the social foundations for development has been proposed as an appropriate strategy for the North by a newly launched report.The report titled “Economic Development Framework for a Northern Province Master Plan” suggests a two-pronged strategy on […]
Sri Lanka Tea export volumes and revenue up in Jan 2019
Feb 21, 2019 9LBO) – Sri Lanka tea export volumes for the month of January 2019 totalled 23.6 M/kgs, showing a gain of 2.7 M/kgs from the same period last year, a new report showed. Tea bags and Packeted tea have shown a growth during the period under review, whilst Bulk tea has shown a […]
Planters’ Association of Ceylon reiterates that Rs. 750 daily wage final
Feb 19, 2019 (LBO) – Planters’ Association of Ceylon reiterates that the new collective agreement between Regional Plantation Companies and estate sector trade unions is already binding. “It does not require any further action from any other stakeholders in order to proceed with the new wage among the RPC sector,” Secretary General of the Planters’ Association, Lalith Obeyesekere said. […]
From Toronto to Toddy, a Jaffna Entrepreneur’s Journey
By Jekhan Aruliah When it comes to investment in the North there is far more talk than there is action. A rare example of action is Suganthan Shanmuganathan. Having fled the Sri Lankan Civil War 25 years ago as a teenage schoolboy, Suganthan came back to Jaffna from Canada in 2014 with his wife and […]
Feature story: Seeds for a brighter future
Feb 01, 2019 (LBO) – Rajnikansan Arushanandi’s son Brideman is in Grade 5 but he knows more about gardening than she does.“He has been learning at school and he comes home and tells us about organic fertilizer preparation, and how nutritional green leaves can be grown,” she says. Another mother, Sobana Muhundan sees her son Sibiraj […]
New website to provide early warning signals for paddy, vegetable producers
Jan 30, 2019 (LBO) – Socio-Economic and Planning Centre of the Department of Agriculture has launched a new website for Sri Lankan farmers, which aims to provide updated information in order to educate them to make productive decisions regarding their crops. This website is a useful information source for farmers, consumers, agricultural producers and food processing institutions […]
Plantation companies agree to increase basic wage of plantation workers to Rs700
Jan 25, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lankan Plantation Companies and trade unions have agreed to increase the daily basic wage of plantation workers to 700 rupees with an additional 50 rupees under the Price Share Supplement (PSS). Further, 100 million rupees will also be allocated to the Plantation Companies out of the funds of Tea […]
” armyworm cannot be practically eradicated: UNFAO
Jan 24, 2019 (LBO) – Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) says that the Fall Armyworm (FAW) known as ‘Sena’ cannot be practically eradicated once established in a new area and it becomes one more pest that farmers need to learn about and manage.In the absence of natural control or good management, the FAW can […]
Jaffna to New York’s Wall Street and back to Jaffna
By Jekhan Aruliah Back in the day Raj Janan’s father was a successful industrialist in Jaffna, owning at various times an aluminium factory, a knitwear factory, a private hospital and a newspaper. Janan’s childhood was disrupted by the JVP insurrection in 1971 when he was 11 years old.One consequence of which was the family was […]
Sri Lanka Army leads flood relief work in the North
Dec 27, 2018 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Army have rescued a number of people stranded due to the prevailing adverse weather condition in the Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts that experienced a heavy rainfall resulting in flooding. Army troops have commenced providing immediate rescue and relief assistance, evacuation and relocation, medical assistance, cooked meals and other […]
Dr. Ravi Perumalpillai, Oxford Surgeon who became a Jaffna Farmer
By Jekhan Aruliah I write this piece as my appreciation of a Diasporan who came back to Jaffna and made a difference, sowing economic and medical seeds in the North. A friend who passed away in Colombo on 9th December 2018, and whose ashes were scattered in Jaffna four days later. I first met Ravi […]
Sri Lanka signs agreement with FAO & China to strengthen fruit value chain
Dec 07, 2018 (LBO) – The signing ceremony of the FAO-China South-South Cooperation Tripartite Agreement between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), China, and Sri Lanka took place at FAO headquarters on 6 December 2018. Food and Agriculture Organization said the aim of this South-South Cooperation project is to help Sri Lanka […]