Could you give us some background information on your Ministry in terms of its main responsibilities, current situation and it's efforts for the development of the sector in the last couple of years?
In 1994 we imported 750,000 metric tons of rice. But today we are self sufficient in rice. This is a very important thing, during my term as Minister of Agriculture we have benefited all the peoples of Sri Lanka at large as it has been a dream realized. We exported flower plants and ornamental plants to Europe, Japan and Hong Kong to the value of Rupees 447 Million last year. We also export vegetables mostly to Middle Eastern countries. Previously we never exported any of these items. Since 1994 we commenced this export and have improved on it since. We now started exporting fruit juice, mainly mango juice and bananas. Last year we exported the largest amount of spices ever.
We have 350,000 acres of uncultivated land. We have notified the landowners that they should start cultivating these lands and we have given them a deadline. If they don't we will be compelled to give these lands over to someone else so that they could cultivate them. In Sri Lanka we have 554,000 acres of Tea land. If we cultivate these 350,000 acres of land, we will be self sufficient in everything. We will also be able to export more and as a result employ more people. I therefore had a bill passed in parliament to the effect that they cannot keep uncultivated land. We passed this law last August and kept all concerned informed accordingly. We intend mechanizing growth of different types of foods, as labor charges in Sri Lanka are very high. We pay a laborer approximately between Rs.200/- and Rs.250/- per day in order to work in our fields, whereas India, our neighboring country only pays their laborers Indian Rs.35/- per day, which amounts to Sri Lankan Rs. 80/- only. I know our farmers import agricultural equipment from China and Japan.
Does the Government contribute towards the import of this machinery or are they subsidized in any way?
No. Farmers themselves have to use their own resources. They must order machinery through Agents in Sri Lanka who in turn import these items from Principles in China and Japan.
We have commenced paying farmers a subsidy of Rs.55, 000 per acre for growing spices. That subsidy we will not get back. For growing fruits too we get loans from IMF at 10% interest. With regard to the growth of rice, vegetables and fruit because of there is insufficient transport to and from where the farmers grow these items and in addition no storage facilities available, especially for paddy and rice. So although we are self sufficient in everything due to lack of storage facilities and insufficient transport facilities there is a large amount of waste. Because farmers have a big harvest and these fruit and vegetables get spoilt after a period of time and have to be thrown away. I believe we should help these farmers by providing the farmer's proper storage facilities and continuous uninterrupted transport but we are not equipped to do this at the present time.
What do you intend on doing to assist farmers in the transport and storage of their produce?
If rice could be distributed to the people in the area it would be a good thing.. Now there is sufficient rice and one third of the people of Sri Lanka live in the Colombo area, which shows a clear Urban future for most of the population. In Colombo there is a shortage of rice. The farmer has no proper mode of transporting the rice and therefore he does not know what to do. Less transport of rice, fruit and vegetables and storage of it is the main issue now. Especially if you go to Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Hambantota and similar areas you will find this to be true. Due to the lack of these facilities the local media has become very critical on these issues.
What do you hope to do to improve these issues?
I have brought up these problems with certain individuals and we have decided to export the rice. Germany, France and Canada are especially interested in our local rice, which is called 'Samba'. Even red rice, which is grown by us, is to be exported to Madras in India. They have asked for 100,000 metric tons. We are unable to supply such a large quantity. It is believed that this rice is good for diabetes and many other countries too are interested in importing this rice. Then again when I went to China they too asked for highbred rice. And we are in the process of growing this. They sent one of their experts to Sri Lanka to assist us to commence the growth of this rice, which is called high bred, or Mao Tsetung. In another three years time we will be exporting this highbred rice to China. As we are self sufficient in Rice we have to export at least 25%.
For the development in the field of Agriculture to what extent are you expecting foreign assistance in terms of expertise, financial assistance and training abroad?
We have 302 experts in agriculture today in Sri Lanka. They have gone abroad and got their MSc and even doctorate in agriculture from UK, USA, Holland and such countries. Even this month 32 people will be leaving on an agricultural seminar and over 350 people go abroad to study agriculture each year. There are those who do not return after their training periods abroad as those countries employ them. We receive financial assistance from the IMF, EEC, ADB and the World Bank. We have approximately 30 experimental projects going on right now. We have allocated these projects to different areas to doctors in agriculture who reside in those areas. Since the end of last year, we have started a project of 'drip irrigation' with assistance from Israel. This method is mostly utilized in those areas where water is scarce.
The Government has distributed Two-thirds the total arable land to farmers. Till 1934 land belonged to the King and he could give it to anyone he chose. But in 1934 a bill was passed in parliament to the effect that land should be distributed amongst the people. So Mr. Senanayake, a member of parliament at the time of British rule in Ceylon as our country was then known, had also distributed land to farmers. Even today this rule stands and after I took over the Ministry 1.2 Million blocks of land were distributed amongst the farmer community. These lands were however distributed by the Government without handing the deeds to the people. This meant that government still owned the land and farmers had to get permission from the government before they cut trees on their piece of land. I brought a motion last year giving ownership of this land in other words giving the deeds to the farmer when the land was distributed. In this way farmers did not have to get permission from government to clear trees from the land for cultivation purposes and also the land belonged to them. As a result they worked harder and got a better yield. Even if government wanted the land back, they would have to purchase it off the farmer. | There is also the landowner. For example if I cultivate the owners land I have to give him half of the paddy cultivated on his land. The other half would then belong to me. Now we brought in a bill to the effect that the owner would get only one fourth while the cultivator gets three fourths of the paddy. Therefore farmers have begun to cultivate more.
You mention about people going abroad for training, what about here in Sri Lanka, what facilities are in place for research and development?
The Agriculture Research Institute is in charge of these tasks. Most of the time however we receive aid to train our people abroad and therefore make use of these opportunities too. We also use our own budget allocation for this purpose. Most of this assistance is from the FAO.
How about your future outlooks, a couple of years ago you had to import a lot of agricultural food items but today you are self sufficient with most of the products and exporting even some of them. How do you see the future of the agricultural sector in the next two or three years?
In 1996 FAO had a seminar in Rome for the leaders of the world and discussions took place as to how best we could overcome some of the food and agricultural problems facing each of our countries. This year there is going to be a similar conference for world leaders in Rome during November and our President too is invited to participate and since she is the Chairperson of SAARC it is imperative that she participates.
During the last 30 years there is been incrementally less rainfall in Sri Lanka. For areas of insufficient water we have decided to use the drip cultivation methods. This is to be done particularly in the highland area and especially where there is a shortage of water. Recently we found that there are 30,000 water tanks in Sri Lanka. These tanks were used for paddy cultivation from the time of our ancient kings, some are as old as 2000 years, and are being used to this day. Most of these tanks are partially filled with mud. Thus with World Bank and World Food Programme assistance we are now clearing the mud out of these tanks. Last year we cleared 1,400 tanks. These tanks are needed to stock rain water in. In this respect FAO is also funding some of these projects, as we do not have resources of our own to clear these tanks. This year we intend on increasing the number of tanks being cleared.
It is difficult to cultivate in the Eastern and Northern Province because of the war. However, the East was the area from where most of the paddy came last year. We harvested 1000 acres of paddy from there. We have received USD 80,000 to carry out a project to report on the possibility of cultivation in these areas. People from those areas come here and request assistance to build tanks and water channels which they did not do earlier. So with this fund we will be able to assist them. I have signed a paper authorizing another 2005 acres to be cultivated in the East. Within three years I believe we will be able to cultivate this area. We cannot do this in the North just yet because of the prevailing situation. We used to get our stock of red onions and chilies from the North. They too were self sufficient in rice and other vegetables and fruit but are unable to cultivate at the present. We therefore send them food and other essentials from here. We recently sent them approximately three and a half tons of seed paddies for cultivation. I am informed that they have commenced cultivation already. They I believe will be self-sufficient again in about two or three years time.
Our readers are businessmen, interested in investing in business opportunities in other countries, what would be your final message to them regarding the potential that the country has to offer?
We have very good fruit in Sri Lanka: papaya, mangos, pineapple lemon and lime to name a few. The juice of these fruits could be extracted and exported or they could export the fruit itself like we are doing now on a small scale. If we have foreign expertise we may be able to do this on a larger scale. Because they have so much vegetables idling, we could even produce a large quantity of vegetable oil for our own use and also export to other countries. I have spoken exporters and informed them that our country is able to supply them with vegetable, fruits, spices, ornamental plants and flowers according to their specifications. They are exporting flowers to Japan from the Nuwara Eliya area. We have good farmers and I have a farmer organization, which includes 74 farmer organizations, which I hope to increase to 150 organizations during the course of this year They will be serving the government. I have a farmer's bank. The Government has contributed approximately Rupees 500 Million and our farmers also have banked their money with us. When a loan is needed five people of the village or five of them from one family could apply for a loan. The interest rate in a normal bank on a loan is 21% whereas in the farmer's bank it is only 10%. Whenever a loan such as this is taken two persons from the Ministry of Agriculture have to sign as witnesses. We have a farmers Company as well. The farmers company could take loans too. The maximum amount farmers could take at one instance is Rupees 1 Million. Thereafter when that amount is settled they could in turn take up to Rupees 2 Million and could go up to 3 Million when the previous loan is settled. Farmers don't have to go to banks and fill up many forms. The farmer's bank only need names, addresses and two witnesses. This way we have made it very easy for farmers. We have even built a memorial tower in commemoration of farmers.
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