Anuradhapura District Secretary Janaka Jayasundara has instructed all 22 Divisional Secretaries to pay more attention to expand the cultivation of export crop varieties in their divisions. District Secretary Jayasundara told the Sunday Observer that of the population of 1,019,321 in the district, 320,207 families, the majority of 60 percent are farmer families of the low income earners category.
‘’In addition to paddy, it is time for us to encourage farmers to grow export crops to get an additional income. With the support of the Export Agriculture Department and Sri Lanka Mahaweli Development Authority, arrangements have been made to grow pepper, cinnamon and arecanut, TJC mangoes and sour plantains initially at Divisional Secretariat level including the Mahaweli ‘’H’’ Zone, the District Secretary said.
According to him, 180,000 cinnamon plants, 34,000 pepper plants, 10,000 arecanut saplings and 20,000 TJC mango saplings have been distributed among farmers. He said that it is planned to grow pepper on 40 hectares and cinnamon on 30 hectares. In Mahaweli ‘H’ area, cinnamon is cultivated on 12 acres and rubber has been cultivated on 11 acres on an experimental basis, he said. He said the export crops cultivation is successfully implemented in Thambuththegama, Ipalogama, Rambewa, Galenbindunuwewa, Rajangane and the Mahawilachchiya Divisional Secretariat divisions.
A fifty percent subsidy is provided to the farmers engaged in export crops cultivation apart from free extension services and marketing facilities.
In addition, under the district export crops cultivation promotion program, Divisional Secretary of Rajanganaya Upali Rajapaksa took the initiative recently to grow pepper, cinnamon and arecanut under the Rajanagane reservoir for the first time on the instructions of the Chief Incumbent of the Rajangane Sri Bodhiraja temple Ven. Maha Wewa Sobitha Nayaka Thera.
The Divisional Secretary told the farmers who received the crop plants that the Rajangane farmers while earning an additional income by taking to export agriculture would get the credit for helping to earn valuable foreign exchange for the country.
