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Economic centres in danger of shutting down

21 Nov 2021

  • Collective warns vegetable shortage threatens survival
By Buddhika Samaraweera All Ceylon Dedicated Economic Centres Collective (ACDECC) has warned that if the supply of vegetables to economic centres continues to fall sharply, as seen currently, all economic centres islandwide will have to be closed within a month or two. Farmers and traders have been complaining for months that the yield and quality of vegetables have significantly dropped following the Government’s decision to ban the import of chemical fertilisers and agrochemicals. Accordingly, speaking to the media yesterday (21), ACDECC Chairman Aruna Shantha Hettiarachchi said that although the Colombo Manning Market received about 2.5 million kilogrammes (kg) of vegetables on a normal day, that number has now dropped to around 500,000 kg. “In addition, the supply of vegetables to all the economic centres has dropped by now. For instance, the supply of vegetables to Thambuththegama Economic Centre has been reduced by about 80%. If this situation continues, it will inevitably become a major crisis. Eventually, all economic centres in the country will have to be closed,” he warned. Meanwhile, Chairman of the Thambuththegama Economic Centre Sunil Senaratne told the media that the Thambuththegama Economic Centre is also in a situation where it has to be closed down. He said that the supply of vegetables to the Economic Centre has come down drastically and as a result the prices have gone up to an unbearable level. Furthermore, committee member of the Colombo Manning Market Traders Association Mahesh Chanaka stated that stocks of vegetables will not reach the Manning Market from areas such as Nuwara Eliya and Kandapola today (22). He charged that the reason for this is the fertiliser crisis which has arisen. According to data available on the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) website, as of last Friday (19), the wholesale price of 1 kg of beans in the Manning Market was priced at Rs. 350, 1 kg of carrots at Rs. 200, 1 kg of cabbage at Rs. 150, 1 kg of tomatoes at Rs. 300, 1 kg of eggplant at Rs. 160, 1 kg of pumpkin at Rs. 50, 1 kg of snake gourd at Rs. 200, 1 kg of green chilli at Rs. 150, and 1 kg of lime at Rs. 375. The retail prices were Rs. 400 per 1 kg of beans, Rs. 250 per 1 kg of carrots, Rs. 200 per 1 kg of cabbage, Rs. 350 per 1 kg of tomatoes, Rs. 210 per 1 kg of eggplant, Rs. 75 per 1 kg of pumpkin, Rs. 250 per 1 kg of snake gourd, Rs. 200 per 1 kg of green chilli, and Rs. 450 per 1 kg of lime. The Morning last week reported that the prices of vegetables in economic centres islandwide have risen sharply, while their quality has significantly dropped in the absence of fertilisers and pesticides. Speaking to The Morning, a trader at the Peliyagoda Manning Market said last week that the prices of vegetables have gone up significantly, adding, however, that the quality of vegetables delivered to the market has dropped by as much as 75%. Claiming that the quality of vegetables, fruits, and other products had declined since the Government decided to ban the importation of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, he said that farmers cannot produce good-quality vegetables without fertilisers and pesticides. Meanwhile, traders at the Meegoda Dedicated Economic Centre also stated recently that the quality of vegetables they receive has dropped drastically, to the extent that consumers were not even buying them.


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