I have maintained that there is no one in the policy making bodies who understands farming and its practices and practicalities. Bureaucrats and Ministers who own land, farmed by others think they know what the real problems are. This is not like running a plantation, this is a hand to mouth existence and lying to them merely makes the liar ...
I was taken to task by a one advocating export of surpluses by my criticism in yesterday’s blog entry about the efforts of the agricultural department to export varieties of rice. I know I was rather harsh on the Secretary to the Ministry, who in the past would have initiated a common sense approach, but in the current heavily politicized ...
It was reported a short while ago today, April 18th 2012, that the Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, KA Sakalasooriya, has announced the creation of four zones for export. One in each of Mannar for growth of Keeri Samba, Hambantota for growing red rice, (presumably long grain) and Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura for growing BG 357 a variety of white ...
In today’s (April 17th 2012) Daily News, Mr MABD Bandaranayake, Sec to the Provincial Agriculture Ministry of Wyamba told farmers who were struggling to get a price for their produce, who were contemplating changing to Tobacco cultivation, and I quote, “Farmers will not get the fertilizer subsidy provided to them by the government, if they start tobacco cultivation. Farmers should ...
There is no profit in growing paddy on an acreage that is less than 5 acres which comprise, 70% of the paddy land grown today. So REMEMBER the rice we eat is grown by people making a sacrifice!!! For no gain, not even enough to pay for a daily wage of Rs200. So what does the future hold? I spent ...
The Miller’s tale in my previous blog entry illustrated quite clearly, that the Miller cannot be unseated by Government intervention, unless the state wishes to get further into a hole to help the farmer. As it is they are in the Rs50B fertilizer subsidy hole not to help the farmer as I have amply illustrated, but to get the farmer ...
A fictional story though based on the real world tale of a successful miller. Once upon a time a man had a vision of making a lot of money, taking advantage of the disunity and lack of vision of the farmers, to buy paddy at rock bottom prices from the farmers and sell rice to the retailers at huge profit ...
Over the years, seven and a half, to be exact I must have bought at least 100 ‘Kimbula udalu thalayas’ for my agricultural needs. If one goes into the web site of Chillington, which is manufactured in the West Midlands in the UK, there is a size and shape of Mammoty just for the Sri Lankan market. I think ...
Judging from the first to harvest paddy this season, namely the Ampara District and to some extent the Kurunegala District farmers, the former do it on a large scale and therefore have to dispose of their harvest as soon as it is dried and packed. The Kurunegala farmers on the other hand are usually those with smaller plots, and ...
The arguments carry on and it is a highly politicized and emotive subject. Bearing in mind that Sri Lanka is shortly to assume a GNP per capita of US$4000 (target 2015) that is at current exchange rates Rs500,000 for every man woman and child in this country of over 20million we must take a different and futuristic view. The politicians ...
A new Bill will be presented in Parliament shortly to enforce ‘a Certificate of Conformity’ from the Department of Agriculture of ALL seeds sold in the Island. It will therefore be forbidden by law (liable to be prosecuted for non compliance) if anyone person, retailer or company sells seeds without such approval. The reason perceived by the State in ...
The crate rule is coming round to the next installment and it seems the government is trying to placate the farmers by giving them veiled subsidies, fooling them with free plastic crates to farmer organizations, which I have already noted as being a very bad precedent, and absolutely counter-productive. They are aiming their fire power on the transport mafia, ...
Ratmale tank a month ago before the rains that made it spill We spend Rs50B in a fertilizer subsidy using imported inorganic toxic fertilizer. I challenge the government to reduce the subsidy in half by increasing the cost of fertilizer and instead use the Rs25B saved to do the following. There are over 10,000 tanks that need serious renovation, and ...
My previous blog entries have covered the practical aspects of this rule, and why it is that it will not work in the Sri Lankan context unless it is tied in with a host of allied initiatives, when worked together will improve the quality of the food we eat and reduce the waste, from the farmers fields to the dinner ...
There is a lull now in the battle for crates. Bukki Johnston is now planning his next move in the New Year. He has got burnt and he is angry. I believe he must go back to basics and find out why his so called ‘Trader Mafia’ are reacting this way. As I suggested the Govt. must order a ...
It is hardly surprising that battle lines are drawn on the enforcement of the Plastic Crate transportation edict. I reported this a few days ago (8th December) in my previous blog entry that it was about to erupt. The government should have known better. You cannot change a lifetime of habit by an edict. It may take about 2 ...
First there was the direction for the umpteenth time from Johnston Fernando that from December 11th, that is the day after this Saturday, Poya anyone caught transporting fruit and vegetable in bags will be prosecuted using the full force of the law. Then there was the usual off the charts saying from the Prime Minister that we should ban ...
One of the great tragedies of nutrition in Sri Lanka is the lack of appreciation for both the King Coconut (Thambili – some friends call me thambili!) and Coconut (Kurumba) water as a liquid refreshment. If one google’s this you can find numerous references as to its incredible powers over ailments and wellness.(e.g reference - http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/coconut-water.html) I have a ...
Two of my cows in Godagama, Meegoda have just calved. The man who takes care of the cattle, decided to play a game of passive aggressive behavior against the supervisor and decided not to milk the cows. That is a serious problem as cows that are bred for milking must be milked, preferably twice daily, as otherwise they could ...
The Lakbima newspaper on Sunday carried another article about the Malaysian accredited laboratory that carried out tests on unnamed pesticides sent to it by the Ven Athureliya Rathena, which had confirmed the existence not only of Arsenic, but also of Mercury and Cyanide. Whilst not disputing the accuracy of the results of the said laboratory, one must always qualify this ...
