The contribution of the agricultural sector (excluding animal production) towards GDP in Sri Lanka accounted for 5.4% in 2022.
However, over 30% of the total workforce in the country is employed in agriculture and urgent attention should be focused to reduce this mismatch.
Currently Agriculture is crucial for economic growth accounting for 4% of GDP in many countries and in some least developing countries, it can account for more than 25% of GDP.
In 2021, the share of agriculture in Sri Lanka’s GDP was 8.7%. As of 2021, the plantation sector’s total production of tea, rubber and coconut accounted for 4.7% of Sri Lanka’s GDP.
Many experts say that the best way to get more from the agro sector is crop diversion and moving away from traditional exports such as tea, rubber and coconut.
Palm Oil Industry Association Chief Operating Officer Yajith De Silva said that the country should reduce its dependence on a single crop and promote the cultivation of a variety of crops.
“Growing a diverse range of crops helps to mitigate the risks associated with climate variability pests, diseases and market fluctuations If one crop fails due to unfavourable conditions, other crops may still thrive, providing a more stable income.
“Crop diversification can improve soil health by reducing nutrient imbalances, reducing soil erosion, and enhancing soil organic matter content,” he said.
He said that growing oil palm is very viable as the returns are far greater than other traditional crops.
He said bamboo, blue berries. agarwood blackberry. raspberry and durian and coffee too can bring in high returns and help poverty reduction and also create employment opportunities.
Prof. S.P. Nissanka of the Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya, said that Sri Lanka should also shift towards the production of vegetable oils which has globally gone up by 125% between 2000 and 2019, driven by a sharp increase in palm oil.
“Palm oil is preferred over coconut oil in the food industry as Palm oil is used for the production of biodiesel and various oleo chemicals as well,” he said.
Prof. Nissanka recalled that oil palm cultivation in Sri Lanka began in 1967 at Nakiyadeniya Estate (with 20 ha) of land in the Galle district.
The then Government approved for RPCs to cultivate oil palms in five selected districts with suitable agro-ecological conditions. These lands exist in Kegalle, Ratnapura, Kalutara, Galle and Matara districts and expanded the cultivation area to around 11,132 ha by 2018 and producing around 25,000 metric tons of palm oil.
However, in April 2021, the then Government banned oil palm cultivation and this ban is still imposing. But the present government is seriously looking at lifting this ban as many Asian countries are actively growing and exporting oil palm including Malaysia and Indonesia.
Due to this import expenditure increase and the recent foreign exchange outflow for fats and oils imports were LKR 56.7 Billion.
Emeritus Professor Asoka Nugawela says that if the ban is lifted, the oil palm industry in Sri Lanka can become self-sufficient in vegetable oil. “This can bring about a Foreign exchange savings of around USD 1 billion if 200,000 metric tons are imported.”
Self-sufficiency in edible oil will also lead towards eradication of rural poverty.
He also said that growing oil palm is the highest income generating plantation crop in Sri Lanka.
Workshop on July 18
A workshop on the advantages of using vegetable oil will be held on July 18 from 9 a.m. at the BMICH with State Minister for Plantation industries, Lohan Ratwatte as a special invitee.
The event is titled ‘Sustainable Futures Workshop for a National Program on Vegetable Oils’.
The main partner of this event Organised by Nucleus Foundation is the Ministry of Agriculture andPlantation Industries and they will host this event in collaboration with the Malaysian High Commission, Indonesian Embassy and this is supported by Solidaridad.
One of the keynote speakers of the event will be Atul Chaturvedi, a veteran in the vegetable oil/ oil seeds and agro business in india. He has been associated with Adani since 1998 and has played a key role in the development of the agro and agri infrastructure business of the Group.
Dr. B. V. Mehta connected to the Indian Vegetable Oil Industry for four decades having an in-depth knowledge of the Indian oilseed sector and vegetable oil industry will also be attending the event.
Dr Suresh Motwani, the Head for Vegetable Oils program at Solidaridad Asia too will attend the event. Holding a PhD and a master’s in agronomy and a post-graduate diploma in agri-marketing and management, he is a specialist in sustainable agriculture supply chains.
The other foreign participants will be Dr. Chattopadhayay Shatadru the founding Managing Director of Solidaridad in Asia, one of the world’s oldest civil society organisations globally. He is well-known for his contributions in the field of sustainability and corporate social responsibility and founder of several national sustainability standards.
Dr. Shatadru has a doctorate in South Asian Economy from the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India.
