Category: Agriculture

Aug 13, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea exporters have called for more money to be spent to promote and market Ceylon tea and develop local brands.Tea exporters association chairman Jayantha Keragala said a greater part of the funds collected from the four rupees per kilo tea export cess should be allocated to exporters. If […]

Aug 07, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has decided to spend at extra 25 billion rupees (230 million US dollars) on a politically important fertilizer subsidy, a senior minister said, as the country is seeking commercial funding for vital infrastructure projects.In the fiscal budget for 2008, Sri Lanka allocated 15 billion rupees for fertilizer subsidies, […]

Aug 01, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea export earnings hit a new high in the first half of this year compared with the same period in previous years, tea brokers said. Stock brokers said the high prices enjoyed by tea exporters were likely to boost the profits of listed plantations companies, which have drawn […]

July 30, 2008 (LBO) – Prices of Sri Lankan low grown leafy grade teas fell sharply at this week’s Colombo auctions owing to fears that buyers may not be able to collect their purchases.Tea prices have been buoyed by good demand from traditional buyers like Russia and the Middle East oil exporting countries where consumers […]

KUALA LUMPUR, July 27, 2008 (AFP) – Malaysia will put in place a series of measures to stabilise plummeting global palm oil prices including selling off crude stocks, a report said Sunday.Peter Chin, minister of plantation industries and commodities, told the Sunday Star newspaper the government wanted to make sure that the almost 25-percent drop […]

July 28, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s pepper trade has demanded an end to import restrictions imposed by India that they say violates the spirit of a free trade accord between the two countries.The call was made by Gulam Chatoor, a former chairman of the Spices and Allied Products Association, on the eve of a […]

July 23, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s tea production rose by 18.2 percent to 171.3 million kilograms (376.9 million pounds) during the first half of this year, the Sri Lankan Tea Board said Wednesday. Production in June was 27.3 million kilograms, up 16.2 percent from the 23.5 million kilos during the same month last year. […]

July 19, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Maskeliya Plantations is planning to introduce more mechanisation in its tea fields and factories to reduce dependence on a costly and troublesome labour force.The company has changed planting methods to make mechanised harvesting easier in the future, Maskeliya Plantations chairman Sena Yaddehige has said. The company, part of […]

July 14, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has spent almost a year’s allocation for a populist fertilizer subsidy in just five months, the finance ministry said in a report, indicating that more than 30 billion rupees would be needed to maintain it till the year end. Policy Stampede In recent years policy makers and senior […]

July 14, 2008 (LBO) – The foods division of Sri Lanka’s John Keells Holdings (JKH) has tied up with dairy farmer co-operatives to set up facilities to add value to raw milk, in a move which is backed by the World Bank’s private sector arm, the company said. Gilles Galludec, IFC Country Manager for Maldives […]

July 11, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan plantations owned by the James Finlay group intend to plant rubber in a big way as part of its diversification strategy, a senior company official said.“We aim to plant rubber wherever possible. It is our number one priority,” said James Sandom, group general manager of Finlay Tea Estates. […]

July 09, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea industry expects to get support from China to improve plant breeding and cultivation, Sri Lanka Tea Board chairman Lalith Hettiarachchi said. “We hope to do that in the very near future at a government-to-government level,” Hettiarachchi said. He said scientists from both countries, both big tea producers, […]