By Maheesha Mudugamuwa
Farmers in Kantale have accused the Government of allegedly abandoning a maize cultivation project launched together with a private investor in lands owned by the Kantale Sugar Factory.
They alleged that the project had been abandoned after the land clearance process was completed.
“We were told that we will be given financial assistance to cultivate maize as an initial crop prior to the cultivation of sugarcane. A private company came and lands were cleared, but now it has been a month and there is no cultivation as yet,” a farmer in Kantale told the media.
He said that by this time, the cultivation should have begun, adding that they don’t know what the authorities are planning to do.
As learnt by The Sunday Morning, the project was launched by Presidential Task Force of Economic Revival and Poverty Eradication Head Basil Rajapaksa. Maize had been identified as a crop to be cultivated prior to the cultivation of sugarcane, as the Government aims to begin operations of the Kantale Sugar Factory by next year.
Nevertheless, a Board of Investment (BOI)-registered, agriculture-based company has initiated the commercial contract of maize farming in Kantale, Trincomalee, with the blessings of government leaders. Later on, an official of the private company claimed that they were asked by the heads of the company to stop the process of cultivating maize.
When contacted by The Sunday Morning, State Minister of Development of Minor Crops including Sugarcane, Maize, Cashew, Pepper, Cinnamon, Cloves, Betel-Related Industries and Export Promotion Janaka Wakkumbura assured that the project had not been stopped and already 260 farmers had applied to get five-acre lands to cultivate maize.
“The factory is situated in a 21,000-acre plot of land and five-acre blocks would be given to farmers to cultivate maize. The Government only provides the land and that is for one season. We are planning to begin the commercial operations of the Kantale Sugar Factory and before that, in order to fertilise the barren land, it was decided to launch maize cultivation,” he explained.
According to the State Minister, the Government does not provide any financial facilities for farmers. Farmers are free to choose any investor to invest in their lands and later pay the value after the harvesting.
Project continues
Referring to the delay, as alleged by the farmers, Wakkumbura stressed the project has not been delayed, noting that the Kantale Divisional Secretariat (DS) is currently assessing the requests and lands would be allocated accordingly, while cultivation would begin within the next few weeks.
When asked about the BOI-approved agri-investor of the project, Wakkumbura stressed that private investors could come to an agreement with the farmers to provide them with financial assistance for the cultivation.
As he explained, the private company would only have a contract with the farmers, which the Government would not be a part of. He said out of 21,000 acres, only 1,500 acres had been utilised for cultivation at present.
The State Minister further noted that the Government aims to cultivate the entire land bank assigned for maize by the end of 2021, which will generate a yield sufficient to meet the entire local demand.
Sugarcane, on the other hand, is a long-duration crop. Hence, farmers have to wait around 10-14 months to gain the return of their investment from fields. The crop is planted by keeping adequate space in between two rows. Intercropping has been recognised as an excellent practice to increase total yield, high monetary returns, and greater resources utilisation, as well as to fulfil the diversified need of farms.
Meeting maize demand
Meanwhile, the Government has decided to increase the cultivation of maize to make up for the imports, as feed millers and poultry producers remain hamstrung by the import ban in place on key poultry feed since the beginning of this year. To this effect, the Government has decided to allocate an additional 30,000 hectares of arable lands to cultivate maize, thus increasing the total extent of the lands used for maize cultivation to 110,000 hectares.
According to the Department of Agriculture, Sri Lanka is expected to produce 42,000 metric tonnes (MT) of maize in the current Yala minor cultivation season, up from 25,222 MT last year.
Most of Sri Lanka’s maize cultivation comes in the Maha season, which is over. The estimate for the Maha season was 312,835 MT.
Sri Lanka’s maize imports have increased dramatically in recent years, for which nearly Rs. 6.5 billion is spent annually, according to government statistics.
The annual maize requirement of the country is 600,000 MT, of which the local produce meets only 250,000 MT while the balance of 350,000 MT is imported, mostly from India and Ukraine. While the poultry feed requirement is around 400,000 MT, the dairy sector consumes another 200,000 MT of maize as cattle feed.
An agriculture expert told The Sunday Morning that the maize import had increased due to the country’s limited cultivation, which covers just over 6,000 hectares, and difficult cultivation conditions have led to low productivity. Increasing demand for animal feed also contributes to the cause, it was learnt
The poultry industry was the worst affected by the increase of imported maize at the market, which cost them around Rs. 37 per kilogramme. It is estimated that Sri Lanka requires 400,000 MT of maize to completely satisfy the poultry demand for maize nationally. However, only 150,000 MT of maize is produced by local farmers, with the remaining 250,000 MT is met through imports.
The US, China, and Brazil contribute 64% of the world’s maize demand. Maize-based products such as corn flakes, corn oil, and corn starch are popular in urban areas and are mostly imported to Sri Lanka.
Poultry farmers affected too
Speaking to The Sunday Morning, All Island Farmers Federation (AIFF) National Organiser Namal Karunaratne stressed that animal feed and other materials necessary for the poultry industry were imported from the US, India, and China.
He said that farmers are facing a huge difficulty in accessing their required materials due to the current import restrictions, resulting in a 30% drop in production. At present, the price of feed is on the rise, resulting in poultry farmers experiencing higher input costs and meagre returns.
“The price of poultry feed is skyrocketing. At this juncture, it is difficult for any farmer to manage poultries,” he lamented.
As explained by Karunaratne, the ban imposed on maize has become one of the major issues faced by poultry farmers.
Moreover, during the purchase of maize from farmers, the Government imposed a price ceiling of Rs. 40. However, the prices have now increased, as there is a monopoly with the ban imposed on imports, he alleged, adding that poultry farmers now had to purchase maize for feed at around Rs. 55 per kilogramme.
“Maize is the main ingredient of the feed and when the price of maize is increasing, the production cost also increases. Before Covid-19, the production cost was around Rs. 13.25, but now it has increased to around Rs. 16. Yet, there’s no government interference to control the prices of maize,” Karunaratne added.
As poultry farmers claimed, in addition to maize, the prices of other ingredients such as vitamin E and minerals too have increased, taking a heavy toll on farmers.
“We were told that we will be given financial assistance to cultivate maize as an initial crop prior to the cultivation of sugarcane. A private company came and lands were cleared, but now it has been a month and there is no cultivation as yet,” a farmer in Kantale told the media.
He said that by this time, the cultivation should have begun, adding that they don’t know what the authorities are planning to do.
As learnt by The Sunday Morning, the project was launched by Presidential Task Force of Economic Revival and Poverty Eradication Head Basil Rajapaksa. Maize had been identified as a crop to be cultivated prior to the cultivation of sugarcane, as the Government aims to begin operations of the Kantale Sugar Factory by next year.
Nevertheless, a Board of Investment (BOI)-registered, agriculture-based company has initiated the commercial contract of maize farming in Kantale, Trincomalee, with the blessings of government leaders. Later on, an official of the private company claimed that they were asked by the heads of the company to stop the process of cultivating maize.
When contacted by The Sunday Morning, State Minister of Development of Minor Crops including Sugarcane, Maize, Cashew, Pepper, Cinnamon, Cloves, Betel-Related Industries and Export Promotion Janaka Wakkumbura assured that the project had not been stopped and already 260 farmers had applied to get five-acre lands to cultivate maize.
“The factory is situated in a 21,000-acre plot of land and five-acre blocks would be given to farmers to cultivate maize. The Government only provides the land and that is for one season. We are planning to begin the commercial operations of the Kantale Sugar Factory and before that, in order to fertilise the barren land, it was decided to launch maize cultivation,” he explained.
According to the State Minister, the Government does not provide any financial facilities for farmers. Farmers are free to choose any investor to invest in their lands and later pay the value after the harvesting.
Project continues
Referring to the delay, as alleged by the farmers, Wakkumbura stressed the project has not been delayed, noting that the Kantale Divisional Secretariat (DS) is currently assessing the requests and lands would be allocated accordingly, while cultivation would begin within the next few weeks.
When asked about the BOI-approved agri-investor of the project, Wakkumbura stressed that private investors could come to an agreement with the farmers to provide them with financial assistance for the cultivation.
As he explained, the private company would only have a contract with the farmers, which the Government would not be a part of. He said out of 21,000 acres, only 1,500 acres had been utilised for cultivation at present.
The State Minister further noted that the Government aims to cultivate the entire land bank assigned for maize by the end of 2021, which will generate a yield sufficient to meet the entire local demand.
Sugarcane, on the other hand, is a long-duration crop. Hence, farmers have to wait around 10-14 months to gain the return of their investment from fields. The crop is planted by keeping adequate space in between two rows. Intercropping has been recognised as an excellent practice to increase total yield, high monetary returns, and greater resources utilisation, as well as to fulfil the diversified need of farms.
Meeting maize demand
Meanwhile, the Government has decided to increase the cultivation of maize to make up for the imports, as feed millers and poultry producers remain hamstrung by the import ban in place on key poultry feed since the beginning of this year. To this effect, the Government has decided to allocate an additional 30,000 hectares of arable lands to cultivate maize, thus increasing the total extent of the lands used for maize cultivation to 110,000 hectares.
According to the Department of Agriculture, Sri Lanka is expected to produce 42,000 metric tonnes (MT) of maize in the current Yala minor cultivation season, up from 25,222 MT last year.
Most of Sri Lanka’s maize cultivation comes in the Maha season, which is over. The estimate for the Maha season was 312,835 MT.
Sri Lanka’s maize imports have increased dramatically in recent years, for which nearly Rs. 6.5 billion is spent annually, according to government statistics.
The annual maize requirement of the country is 600,000 MT, of which the local produce meets only 250,000 MT while the balance of 350,000 MT is imported, mostly from India and Ukraine. While the poultry feed requirement is around 400,000 MT, the dairy sector consumes another 200,000 MT of maize as cattle feed.
An agriculture expert told The Sunday Morning that the maize import had increased due to the country’s limited cultivation, which covers just over 6,000 hectares, and difficult cultivation conditions have led to low productivity. Increasing demand for animal feed also contributes to the cause, it was learnt
The poultry industry was the worst affected by the increase of imported maize at the market, which cost them around Rs. 37 per kilogramme. It is estimated that Sri Lanka requires 400,000 MT of maize to completely satisfy the poultry demand for maize nationally. However, only 150,000 MT of maize is produced by local farmers, with the remaining 250,000 MT is met through imports.
The US, China, and Brazil contribute 64% of the world’s maize demand. Maize-based products such as corn flakes, corn oil, and corn starch are popular in urban areas and are mostly imported to Sri Lanka.
Poultry farmers affected too
Speaking to The Sunday Morning, All Island Farmers Federation (AIFF) National Organiser Namal Karunaratne stressed that animal feed and other materials necessary for the poultry industry were imported from the US, India, and China.
He said that farmers are facing a huge difficulty in accessing their required materials due to the current import restrictions, resulting in a 30% drop in production. At present, the price of feed is on the rise, resulting in poultry farmers experiencing higher input costs and meagre returns.
“The price of poultry feed is skyrocketing. At this juncture, it is difficult for any farmer to manage poultries,” he lamented.
As explained by Karunaratne, the ban imposed on maize has become one of the major issues faced by poultry farmers.
Moreover, during the purchase of maize from farmers, the Government imposed a price ceiling of Rs. 40. However, the prices have now increased, as there is a monopoly with the ban imposed on imports, he alleged, adding that poultry farmers now had to purchase maize for feed at around Rs. 55 per kilogramme.
“Maize is the main ingredient of the feed and when the price of maize is increasing, the production cost also increases. Before Covid-19, the production cost was around Rs. 13.25, but now it has increased to around Rs. 16. Yet, there’s no government interference to control the prices of maize,” Karunaratne added.
As poultry farmers claimed, in addition to maize, the prices of other ingredients such as vitamin E and minerals too have increased, taking a heavy toll on farmers.