By Maheesha Mudugamuwa
The Agriculture Ministry has taken measures to develop chilli cultivation with the objective of reducing imports, Ministry Secretary W. A. Sakalasooriya said.
Sri Lanka needed 45,000 MT of chillie per annum but the annual production had declined to nearly 10,000 MT. Most of the local production went to the market as a vegetable while a major portion of the dried red chillies was imported, he added.
Sakalasooriya pointed out that nearly 90 percent of chillies consumed in the country were imported.
Although Sri Lanka produces nearly 15 percent of high quality chilli seeds, that amount was not enough to meet the local demand. So, farmers were compelled to buy low quality seeds from private companies. Therefore, ministry had decided to distribute 2,0000MT of chilli seeds to the farmers free of charge, he said.
Sakalasooriya added that farming facilities had been developed and training programmes launched to provide technical assistance to farmers.
According to the ministry in the 1980s chilli was grown in 35,000 hectares but now the area had declined to 18,000 hectares, he said.
Ministry has selected 5,000 hectares for Yala and 5,000 for Maha in the Amapara and Hambanthota Districts for the cultivation of chillies, Sakalasooriya said.
http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=48394
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