Sri Lanka has great potential to generate foreign exchange through agricultural development

At the recent Sri Lankan economic summit, Prime Minister Lanier expressed his goal of 50 billion exports throughout the year. Up to now, the foreign exchange income of the country has reached 11 billion billion US dollars, and a series of effective measures need to be taken to achieve the annual target.

The planting area of crops in the country is about 800000 hectares, and 30% of the foreign exchange income comes from the agricultural sector. An increase in the productivity of the agricultural sector would contribute significantly to the growth of foreign exchange earnings. In the past few years, the foreign exchange income of the agricultural sector has been increasing, mainly due to the increase in the cost of export products. The export of crops such as tea, rubber, coconuts and spices is the country's main source of foreign exchange income. The export value increased from US $2 billion in 2010 to US $2.8 billion in 2014. However, the production of these crops has not increased accordingly. For example, the production of tea in 2010 was 331.4 million kg, and the production from 2011 to 2014 was 327.5 million kg, 328.4 million kg, 340.1 million kg and 338.1 million kg respectively. Between 2010 and 2014, both rubber and coconut production declined. One of the main reasons for the decline in average yields of tea, rubber and coconut is land degradation. Therefore, to promote agricultural development, the implementation of appropriate land protection measures is very important. Since many trees have aged and lost their productivity, increasing the rate of re-planting can increase productivity to some extent. In addition, effective management will increase productivity, which in turn will increase foreign exchange earnings, including better fertilization, weeding and pest control, diversification of cultivation, improved production methods and increased value-added production.

In addition to tea, rubber and coconut, there are a large number of other crops with potential export value, such as pepper, cinnamon, garden flowers and so on. In 2013, the spice crop earned $0.35 billion.

There are 24 agro-ecological zones, each with unique climate and soil characteristics, which provide conditions for the cultivation of different crops. Of the 6.5 million hectares, there are 2 million hectares of wetlands, 75% of which are planted with crops, but most are less productive due to land degradation. Of the 4.5 million hectares of dry land, only 200 hectares are effectively used. As a result, large areas of potentially arable land exist in arid areas. Most soils in these areas are relatively more fertile than those in the wetlands. Insufficient precipitation during the dry season is one of the main constraints to crop growth in arid areas, so good water supply management will reduce this constraint. Currently, major irrigation projects such as Mahawilli, Kilindi Eurasia (Kirindioya), Mutu Kaindia (Muthukandiya) and Ian Genimidiya (Inginimitiya) have provided irrigation needs for 200000 hectares of land in arid areas, and a large number of small irrigation projects will also provide conditions for these areas. Therefore, it has great potential to improve the level of crop production.

In addition, the agricultural product processing industry also plays an important role in earning foreign exchange. At present, the agricultural products processing industry involves only a small number of crops such as rubber, coconut and some fruits. Cassava, gardening flowers, herbs, sugar cane, bamboo, sunflower, castor, Ayurvedic herbs and other crops have potential processing value, but have not yet developed into any obvious commercial value through processing market demand, neither obvious variety improvement, nor related processing technology and market information. Therefore, promoting the development of agro-industry will not only provide new channels for export income generation, but also provide opportunities for economic development and job creation in rural areas.

Source: Agricultural Information Network | Time: September 10, 2015 | Responsible Editor: Zhai Tianchang