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Bumper peanut crop, 2021 harvest doubles

31 May 2022

  • National need exceeded with 64,000 MT last year; peanut oil/butter production mooted  
BY Buddhika Samaraweera The Department of Agriculture stated that the harvest of peanuts, which is cultivated as a food crop, has now exceeded the national requirement, and recorded a double harvest in 2021. An official of the Agriculture Ministry said that Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Amaraweera had inquired about the cultivation of peanut in Sri Lanka during a recent discussion with Department officials appointed for the promotion of food crops grown in the country. During the said discussion, the officials had informed Amaraweera that although Sri Lanka's annual requirement of peanuts is 30,000 metric tonnes (MT), by the end of 2021, the harvest of peanuts had exceeded 64,000 MT. They further informed the Minister that Lanka Jumbo, a new variety of peanut introduced by the Department, has even resulted in the suspension of peanut imports to manufacture jumbo peanuts. Currently, jumbo peanuts grown in Sri Lanka are used for the production of the same, and it has therefore been possible to save a lot of money that had to be spent on imports in the past, the Department has informed the Minister. Amaraweera has also further instructed the officials of the Department to take steps to promote the related products by utilising the extra harvest of peanuts. Accordingly, he said that a programme to produce peanut oil and peanut butter which is especially beneficial for health should be started and that steps should be taken to further expand peanut cultivation. He further said that the farmers should be encouraged to pay more attention to the cultivation of peanuts as well as other such crops which can be grown without the use of chemical fertilisers or agrochemicals. It was recently reported that the Ministry is to focus on restricting the importation of seeds of seven crops that can be produced locally, from this year. The Ministry at that time announced that the import of seeds for potato, big onion, red onion, chillie, undu, maize, and peanut 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.

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