Category: Agriculture

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 […]

Jan 29, 2008 (LBO) – The World Bank says Sri Lanka’s agriculture needs more investment to diversify into high value products and boost productivity in order to reduce rural poverty. “Governments around the world and donors such as the World Bank have been under-investing in agriculture,” says Derek Byerlee, a rural strategy adviser to the […]

Jan 25, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea production for 2007 fell by six million kilograms to 304 million kilograms as bad weather and the lagged effects of a strike hit production in the early part of the year, brokers said. Tea prices at the Colombo auctions have remained high in recent weeks and there […]

Jan 21, 2008 (LBO) — Sri Lanka’s exports of desiccated coconut (DC) were far below the island’s potential last year due to insufficient coconuts to keep mills running, exporters said.Sunil Watawala, former president of the DC Millers Association, said DC is the island’s main kernel product that is competitive in international markets as local coconut […]