Category: Agriculture

Mar 08, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Watalawa Plantations Plc said cash from the sale of a marketing arm will be used to expand oil palm, boost efficiencies in its tea estates and cut debt, as interest rates continued to rise. Shortly before the budget, through an ad hominen law the state took back land […]

Feb 08, 2012 (LBO) – RAM Ratings Lanka has assigned long- and short-term corporate credit ratings of A and P2 to CIC Holdings (CIC) with a stable outlook on the long-term rating. The group™s ratings are supported by the dominant market positions in its key business areas as well as resilient demand for agriculture related […]

BANGKOK, (Asia Pulse) – The international rice trade is forecast to fall by approximately 1 million tonnes, or 5 per cent, this year as improved harvest prospects in several major importing countries may reduce overall demand after achieving a worldwide record of 34.5 million tonnes (milled basis) in 2011, according to the United Nations’ Food […]

Feb 03, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lankan small farmers are suffering because of a downturn in demand for tea from key markets in the Middle East owing to political unrest, an industry official said. Goonetilleke said 2012 had not started off well for the tea growers and factories producing low grown teas whose main market […]

Feb 02, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea industry is considering developing an ‘all-encompassing’ standard to demonstrate compliance with a plethora of international criteria producers are faced with, an official said. Niraj de Mel, Managing Director of exporter Vanrees Ceylon, said the number of standards producers are compelled to comply with have been increasing in […]

Feb 02, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea plantations industry said investments in improving infrastructure and community services had improve the quality of life of workers who produce the island main export crop. The Planters™ Association of Ceylon (PA), which represents 23 listed Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs), said estate communities in RPC estates have seen […]

Jan 31, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is testing new varieties of tea that have better ability to tolerate drought and disease, the head of the island’s tea research outfit said. Gerry Jayawardena, chairman of the Tea Research Institute, said the new types of tea plants were needed given changes in climate and consumer preferences […]

Jan 31, 2012 (LBO) – A Sri Lanka state decision to allow commercial timber to be harvested will increase the supply of fuel wood for use in tea driers helping cut production costs, an industry body representing private managers said. “We are confident this decision by the government will benefit not only the estate sector […]

Jan 31, 2012 (LBO) – The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) said it is giving a 22 million dollar loan to Sri Lanka to rebuilt irrigation works, which will help 7,000 farmer families in former war-torn areas. The money will be used to improve downstream irrigation infrastructure of the Iranamadu reservoir in Kilinocchi in […]

Jan 30, 2012 (LBO) – Poverty levels in Sri Lanka’s tea industry are still too high and need to be addressed as a matter of priority, a senior official of the Food and Agriculture Organisation said. The FAO is also involved in the island’s tea industry and is supporting the National Institute of Plantations Managements […]

Jan 27, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Watawala Plantations said December 2011 quarter net profit fell 39 percent to 158 million rupees from a year ago, with a profit expected in the last quarter as well after losses earlier in the year. The company said that strong palm oil prices had helped cushion a fall […]

Jan 27, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s production of CTC (crush, tear, curl) type teas, used mainly in tea bags, rose sharply in 2011, although overall output was slightly lower than the record crop in 2010, brokers said. The Sri Lanka Tea Board said annual production for 2011 was 328.3 million kilos, about one percent […]