Sri Lanka government to formulate programme on agriculture seeds

By Buddhika Samaraweera

The Agriculture Ministry of Sri Lanka is to formulate and implement a programme to carry out all activities such as the production and importation, distribution, and regulation of agricultural seeds through the School of Agriculture Government Farm (Seed Processing) in Kundasale under the Agriculture Department, The Morning learns.

During a visit to the said farm on 9 January, Minister of Agriculture Mahindananda Aluthgamage has stated that a programme should be implemented to carry out activities pertaining to the production, importation, distribution, and regulation of seeds through the said farm.

He has also instructed the officials of the farm to obtain the relevant information and submit a report on the demand for seeds in the country and local seed production as soon as possible, as it has been revealed that the Agriculture Department does not have accurate information on such. Accordingly, officials have been instructed to submit a complete report with accurate information on the quantity of agricultural seeds required for the crops grown in the country, the quantity of seeds produced locally according to that requirement, and the quantity of seeds imported annually. Aluthgamage said that the Agriculture Department should have that information on whoever produces or imports seeds in the country.

“The Agriculture Department should have all the information from the village farmer to the large-scale farming companies producing seeds locally, their quantities, the quantities they give for local use, and the amounts they export,” Aluthgamage said.

The Morning reported last month that the Agriculture Ministry is to focus on restricting the importation of seeds of seven crops that can be produced locally, from this year. The Agriculture Ministry at that time announced that the import of seeds for potato, big onion, red onion, chillie, undu, maize, and peanuts would be restricted from this year onwards. Agriculture Department Director General Dr. Ajantha de Silva has also stated recently that the import of chilli seeds could be halted entirely by 2024, and that the import of seeds for potato and big onion could be limited to 35% and 30%, respectively, by 2024.