Srilanka lost 2000 MT banana exporting chance !

It is reported that the agreement signed between China and Sri Lanka to export 2,000 metric tons of banana per month has been lost due to the negligence of the top officials at the Agriculture Department.

The Department's former Additional Secretary (Agriculture Technology), Dr. Subha Heenkenda said according to the agreement between the two countries, the details of 150 banana farmers were given to the Chinese government, and bananas had established a packing centre.

The details included information about the address of the farmers, the type of banana being grown, and the volume of fruits that could be exported.

Accordingly, it was planned to export 2000MT of banana to China per month at the rate of 500MT per week.

The then former Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka made several requests to the Agriculture Department for nearly two years to implement the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the two countries in 2015, but the department has failed to furnish details of 150 banana growers.

According to the agreement, banana, such as organic banana (Amban), sour banana, organic banana (Kolikuttu), and red banana grown in Sri Lanka were to be exported under a special SL GAP (Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) code).

However, the department's high officials used to deny the opportunity given by the Chinese government to receive the produce in China.

A team of experts from China was here and conducted a detailed study to explore the possibilities of exporting. For that purpose, the Agriculture Department had arranged to hold a separate banana and fruit exhibition.

He emphasized that if the banana export agreement had been implemented, the next step would be to export the consignment to Chinese market. China was also preparing to implement an export agreement for mangoes, papaya and pineapples.

As a country, it is extremely regrettable that the authorities are not acting to implement this agreement. He believes that such an export was once on a lifetime  opportunity and doubtful whether it would come on our way.

It is not possible to see such opportunity again as bananas are being exported to the Chinese market by many Asian countries, the former Additional Secretary added. (