Category: Agriculture

Dec 31, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s plantations are considering concessionary loans with interest subsidies from the government to improve replanting of tea, which has fallen behind targets, the Tea Board said. The plantations ministry wants to increase the re- plantation rate of regional plantations corporation estates to three percent a year from the current […]

Dec 28, 2010 (LBO) – Two fish canning plants are to be built in Sri Lanka next year to supply both the export and domestic markets, fisheries minister Rajitha Senaratne said. Fish production has been increasing since the island’s 30-year ethnic war ended in May 2009. “By the end of next year, we aim to […]

Dec 28, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s coconut farmers, who are now perhaps getting the highest prices in the world due to agriculture protection, are to get tax payer support in the form of a fertilizer subsidy, the government has said. Earlier in the year Sri Lanka’s desiccated coconut producers proposed a periodically adjusted tax […]

Dec 27, 2010 (LBO) – Fish prices in Sri Lanka should come down when the weather improves and Catholic fishermen put out to sea with the end of Christmas celebrations, the fisheries minister Rajitha Senaratne said. Increased sales by the state-owned Ceylon Fisheries Corporation had already brought fish prices down by about 22 percent on […]

Dec 23, 2010 (LBO) – Prices of Sri Lanka’s low grown teas, which make up 60 percent of production, rose at the last auction for the year this week with average prices also higher than last year, brokers said. “There was better demand at this week’s auction for low grown teas and prices gained selectively […]

Dec 22, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has registered a claim locally for intellectual property protection for Ceylon tea under global ‘Geographical Indicators’ rules that would help market its main export product, a senior official said. That allowed the country to market Ceylon tea worldwide as an environmentally friendly and ozone friendly product. The government […]

Dec 21, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea production fell in November 2010 from a year ago but crossed 300 million kilos for the year as it appeared headed for a new record annual crop, Tea Board data showed. Tea out put in November fell almost nine percent to 26. 7 million kilos from a […]

December 20, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s government on Monday banned the felling of coconut trees as the island battled a severe shortage of nuts — a dietary staple — and ordered imports for the first time. Coconut development minister Jagath Pushpakumara said the government had outlawed the cutting down of coconut trees in a […]

Dec 17, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea could see strong demand in the first quarter of 2011 as it is a low cropping period and supply and demand are finely balanced at the end of this year, brokers said. There was good demand at the penultimate auction this week and prices were mostly firm. […]

December 17, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s authorities have imposed price control coconuts — a dietary staple — by setting a ceiling price and arranging imports to bring down prices. So important is the coconut to the national cuisine that shortages in the past have had serious political implications and even been held responsible for […]

Dec 16, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan poultry firm Bairaha Farms aims to increase production by more than half in three years with a total estimated investment of almost 360 million rupees on a new farm, a statement said. The poultry producer, which owns and manages a large-scale chicken processing factory and also operates breeder […]

Dec 10, 2010 (LBO) – Iran, which restricts import of value-added teas, has offered to let Sri Lankan exporters pack and sell tea in the country under a preferential tariff quota scheme, the government said. Tea is Sri Lanka’s main export to Iran, the island’s sixth largest trading partner with total two-way trade between the […]