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Sri Lanka spends nearly Rs. 6.5 billion on maize imports every year

22 Aug 2018

By Maheesha Mudugamuwa Sri Lanka’s maize imports have increased dramatically in recent years to nearly Rs. 6.5 billion annually, according to government statistics. An agriculture expert told The Morning that maize imports were on the rise due to the country’s limited cultivation, which covers just over 6,000 hectares, and difficult cultivation conditions that had led to low productivity. Increasing demand for animal feed also contributes to these figures. According to the Department of Agriculture, at the end of June this year, in the Yala season, only 6,014 hectares were cultivated out of the estimated 14,945 hectares. Therefore, the country was able to achieve only 40% of the expected yield. Last year, the total maize production during the Yala season was 32,011 MT. On Tuesday, the Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera decided to give a certified price of Rs. 40 per kilo of maize to local farmers in order to promote maize cultivation and to discourage maize imports. The relevant Cabinet paper was to be submitted next week. The Minister said that the country’s import of maize was a huge drain on Sri Lanka’s foreign exchange and therefore, it was important to increase the local production to meet the demand. The poultry industry was the worst affected by the increasing of imported maize in the market which cost them around Rs. 37 per kilo. It is estimated that Sri Lanka requires 400,000 MT of maize to completely satisfy the poultry demand for maize, nationally. However, just 150,000 MT of maize is produced by local farmers, with the remaining 250,000 MT being met through imports. In 2012, Sri Lanka exported 10,000 MT of maize to Taiwan. The increasing trend of maize imports had been recorded since 2013 with 96,000 MT, and then in 2016, it had doubled from the previous year. USA, China, and Brazil supply 64% of the world’s maize demand. Maize based products such as corn flakes, corn oil, and corn starch are popular in urban areas and most of these products are imported to Sri Lanka.

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