Category: Agriculture

May 07, 2009 (LBO) – Restrictions on private sales of low grown teas outside the main auctions in Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo, are likely to be extended this year, an official said.The curb are placed in the belief that they help prop up prices, though a ‘private’ sale takes away an equal amount of supply […]

CANTONDOUGOU, May 5, 2009 (AFP) – The comforting world of chocolate ads could not be further from the harsh reality in the backwoods of the world’s biggest cocoa producer — where rubber is the new crop of choice. In the village of Cantondougou in western Ivory Coast there are no steaming mugs of hot chocolate […]

April 30, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea prices rose again at this week’s auction, propelled by the weakening rupee and strong demand from the Middle East, brokers said.“Teas in the higher priced bracket continued to decline further following quality whilst the neat leaf coloury teas showed a firming up of prices. Poor leaf teas […]

April 30, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s total tea production in March 2009 fell 44 percent to 18.2 million kilos from a year ago owing to drought and reduced crops, the Tea Board said. Tea output in the January-March 2009 period was down 41.6 percent to 48.8 million kilos from 83.5 million kilos in the […]

April 23, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea prices rose sharply at this week’s auctions, propelled by the weakening of the rupee against the dollar and lower quantities, brokers said. They said prices of low grow teas, which make up the bulk of the crop, gained substantially although those from the higher elevations fell because […]

April 21, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan rubber prices have bounced back as demand picks up and tapping slows down during the off-season, industry officials said. “So rubber manufacturing companies have got new orders as a result of which they have to buy the natural rubber raw materials from producers. “Also, supply is now lower […]

April 10, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government has raised the import cess on palm oil to 60 rupees per kilo from 40 rupees, Coconut Cultivation Board officials said. The move is aimed at ensuring a better price for coconut growers, mostly small farmers, and to reduce imports of edible oils, mainly palm oil, […]

April 2, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s tea exports slid nearly 30 percent in February due to an output slump blamed on a “severe drought,” officials said Thursday.Sri Lanka is one of the world’s biggest tea exporters and the commodity is its largest foreign exchange-earner. Tea exports fell 29.2 percent to 131.3 million dollars in […]

Mar 30, 2009 (LBO) – A Sri Lankan agro firm has set up a help desk to combat the spread of ‘mealy bug’ which is sweeping through home gardens in the island’s capital Colombo, and is threatening several agro areas. Hayleys Agro says its pesticide ‘Admire SL 20’ has been found to be effective in […]

March 28, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea prices fell again at this week’s auction as quality dropped with the end of the season and rains in planting districts indicated bigger crops in future, brokers said.“In the Large Leaf catalogues OP1s and OPs were the most affected and marked down by 20 to 30 rupees […]

March 25, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka Tea Board has received applications from more than 470 tea factories seeking approval to get government concessions on loans, a senior official said.But the tea companies have complained that they have got no funds yet. Tea Board chairman Lalith Hettiarachchi said the manufacturers are seeking support for […]

March 25, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea prices have weakened with the end of the Western quality season, although the better quality offerings still fetched higher prices at the last auction.Brokers said rains have been reported from most tea planting districts and crop intakes have shown a slight increase in certain areas. Supply will […]