Category: Agriculture

Mar 23, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s exporters of value added coconut products are asking to authorities to free edible oil imports, so that profits from oil milling would fall, freeing more nuts for other industries. Sri Lanka’s coconut milk powder, coconut cream and desiccated coconut producers have been found their cost of production increasing […]

Mar 21, 2008 (LBO) – Torrential rains lashing Sri Lanka during an ongoing crucial harvest season is likely to lower the quality of rice but keep prices high in the domestic market, an official said. “In some districts around 50 percent of the crop has been harvested and the remaining 50 percent has to be […]

March 18, 2008 (LBO) – The privatization of Sri Lankan tea estates and branding were largely responsible for the industry’s export earnings exceeding a billion dollars last year, a top business chamber said. The effectiveness of the Colombo tea auctions and storage and brokerage services also played their part, said a statement by the Ceylon […]

LONDON, March 6, 2008 (AFP) – Oil prices surged past 105 dollars for the first time on Thursday as traders reacted to a surprisingly sharp fall in US crude reserves and the plunging US dollar, analysts said. New York’s main oil contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April hit 105.10 dollars per barrel, topping […]

March 3, 2008 (AFP) – The tea industry in Sri Lanka, the world’s second biggest exporter of the crop, is looking forward to good times again as prices soar on a global commodities boom.And the rise for a cup of tea comes as the prices of other traditional brews such as cocoa and coffee have […]

Feb 21, 2008 (LBO) – The United Nations Development Fund (UNDP) is to grant Sri Lanka 22 million dollars to develop the coconut industry, officials from the ministry of coconut development said. The funds will be used to improve small and medium coconut businesses, especially small holder cultivators, said Newton Peiris, advisor at the ministry […]

Feb 20, 2008 (LBO) – A bacteria spreading the lethal yellowing disease on coconut palms has entered Sri Lanka destroying more than 200,000 trees in the southern coast of the island, coconut experts say. The bacteria known as ˜phytoplasma™ came through a shipment of ornamental palms that were not quarantined before entering the island, Salinda […]

Feb 19, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is planning draconian new laws to limit the rights of coconut farmers to put land to alternative uses and cut import duty on coconut oil as prices soared and a new pest hit groves in the island. Disease and clearance of coconut land for development have helped reduce […]

Feb 14, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea prices are forecast to stay strong this year because of international supply disruptions caused by the violence in Kenya and rising demand from consumers in oil-rich countries, brokers said. “Problems in Kenya will definitely have an impact on global supply during the first quarter of 2008,” brokers […]

Feb 14, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s diversified A. Baur & Company has launched a new powdered milk brand to boost its share in the premiumn infant milk powder business. Baurs says it already has a 20 percent market share in the infant milk powder segment. The product, ‘Enfakid’, developed by US food giant Mead […]

Feb 13, 2008 (LBO) – Prices of Sri Lankan clove have stabilized after a sharp fall last month, a senior official has said. But growers are expected to start harvesting more as prices firm and also to do replanting. Gulam Chatoor of the Spices & Allied Products Producers’ and Traders’ Association (SAPPTA) said producers and […]

Feb 7, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka earned a record one billion dollars from tea exports last year despite a drop in volumes, the island’s tea board said Thursday.Sri Lanka’s high quality aromatic teas are made with tender leafs and buds of the plant botanically known as Camellia Sinenis. Sri Lanka, the world’s largest exporter […]