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Grain master plan to achieve self-sufficiency

29 Mar 2021

  • Green gram, cowpea, black gram, ground-nut, maize, and finger millet included

  The Government is to develop a three-year master plan on grain management to fulfil the total requirement of grains in the country and achieve grain self-sufficiency, The Morning learnt. State Ministry of Paddy and Grain, Organic Food, Vegetables, Fruits, Chillies, Onion, and Potato Cultivation Promotion, Seed Production, and Advanced Technology Agriculture Secretary Anil Wijesiri, speaking to The Morning, said that this master plan would cover green gram (mung bean), cowpea, black gram (ulundu), ground-nut (peanut – rata kadju), maize (bada iringu), and finger millet (kurakkan). “At the moment, Sri Lanka is dependent on imported grains, but according to our master plan we would be able fulfil the total requirement of grains in the country within three years. Towards this end, we have allocated Rs. 3,650 million for 2021,“ he added. According to Wijesiri, in addition to grain cultivation, this project will also focus on seed cultivation. “Currently, we use seeds imported from Malaysia and Thailand. With our master plan, we would be able to promote seed cultivation as well.” Wijesiri also said that the State Ministry is planning to increase the dry chilli production up to 30% by the end of 2022. The current production is 1%. The Government has imposed an import ban on 16 crops including rice, maize, big onion, cowpea, green gram, ground-nut, chillie, soya, red onion, potato, finger millet, gingerly, turmeric, and ginger. As a result of these import controls, currently, there are both shortages and inflated prices for some of these produce. According to the Field Crops Research and Development Institute (FCRDI), presently, black gram is successfully cultivated in the districts of Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Vavuniya, Kurunegala, Puttalam, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Batticaloa, and Jaffna. About 80% of the black gram crop is cultivated during the Maha season as a rain-fed uplands crop while the rest is grown during the Yala season in paddy fields with supplementary irrigation. However, the production is not sufficient to meet the demand. The majority of the finger millet cultivation is observed as a shifting cultivation (chena) since the late 1980s. The extent of finger millet cultivation has decreased from 21,000 hectares (ha) in the late 1980s, to 7,000 ha in 2016 due to forest clearance-related regulations being imposed. In the meantime, traditional finger millet cultivated lands are being replaced by other comparable and competitive crops such as maize, pulses, and vegetables. Finger millet is presently grown in the districts of Anuradhapura, Monaragala, Hambantota, Kegalle, Ratnapura, Nuwera Eliya, Matale, Ampara, Badulla, and Jaffna. Though ground-nut is an oil crop, in Sri Lanka it is used in snacks and confectionaries. Cowpea is an important legume crop and can be grown in a wide range of soil conditions, from predominantly sandy loam to clay, ranging from acidic to base. Our annual maize requirement is about 200,000 metric tonnes (MT), from which Sri Lanka imports about 125,000 MT, according to the FCRDI. In addition to that, Sri Lanka imports maize products such as corn flakes, corn oil, cornstarch, and corn flour for different uses.


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