• Rising production costs, declining harvests blamed 

A severe shortage of vegetables is expected to hit Sri Lanka by April as farmers struggle to continue their cultivation due to the high production cost triggered by the recently-increased Value-Added Tax (VAT).

Speaking to The Sunday Morning, All Ceylon Farmers’ Federation (ACFF) President Namal Karunaratne said that prices were expected to further increase in the coming months due to a declining harvest.

Karunaratne emphasised that the current price of vegetables like carrots had exceeded Rs. 1,000 per kilogramme and warned that prices would only increase further. 

He also expressed concern about the impact this would have on the preparation of sweetmeats for Sinhala and Tamil New Year celebrations. 

“Farmers are struggling. The price of a bag of fertiliser has skyrocketed, making it unaffordable. Earlier, by this time, they would have commenced vegetable plant nurseries. However, this time, no such activity is taking place. This means that in the next two months, the harvest will see a massive reduction.”

When asked about the situation, Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said that Sri Lanka was already experiencing a vegetable shortage. 

He explained: “Due to the heavy rainfall, farmers aren’t able to plant any crops. This is why we are asking everyone to try and plant their own vegetables in flower pots, at least in small quantities.”

Amaraweera highlighted that cultivations had been destroyed by flooding caused by rainfall, due to which home-growing of vegetables was advised and heavily encouraged.

“Vegetables cannot be imported, so through any means, we have to harvest them on our own,” he added.

According to the Peliyagoda Manning Public Trade Association, the highest vegetable prices recorded within Sri Lanka in recent history were registered on Thursday (11).