President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has appointed a 14-member Presidential Task Force for Green Agriculture.

President Rajapaksa appointed this Task Force yesterday (15) through an Extraordinary Gazette notification, taking into consideration the need for unhygienic agro chemicals to be minimized through research and new inventions and for eco-friendly organic fertilizer production that suit the local environmental conditions to be incentivized.

The Task Force chaired by Mr. Vijith Welikala has 14 members. Mr. Vernon Perera, Additional Secretary to the President, has been appointed as Secretary of the said Task Force.

Following is the list of members of the Presidential Task Force for Green Agriculture.

01. Mr. Vijith Welikala, Chairman, Wild Holidays (Pvt.) Ltd.

02. Mr. Lalith Senevirathna

03. Mr. S.K.B. Kasun Tharaka Amal, Director, Biogenic Green Technology Research Institute

04. Mr. Malinda Senevirathna , Director, Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute

05. Mr. R.B. Rasika Thusitha Kumara , Climate Smart Agriculture Co-ordinator, Vavuniya and Mannar Districts, Eco Friendly Farming Training Consultant

06. Dr. B.K.J. Kavantissa , Chief Executive Officer, “Siyapatha” International Education and Training Institute (Pvt.) Ltd.

07. Mr. Samantha Fernando, Kangara Holdings (Pvt.) Ltd.

08. Mr. Samuditha Kumarasinghe, Lanka Bio fertilizers (Pvt.) Ltd.

09. Mr. Ajith Randunu , Green Force Agriculture (Pvt.) Ltd.

10. Mr. N.M. Khalid, Lanka Nature Power (Pvt.) Ltd.

11. Mr. Shammi Kirinde, Bio Foods (Pvt.) Ltd.

12. Ms. Nirmala Karewgoda, Hysoung ONB (Pvt.) Ltd 13. Mr. Chaminda Hettikankanamge, R.K.G. Bio Green Farm

14. Mr. Nishan de Silva, Lorance’s Liquid Fertilizer

The Members of this Presidential Task Force are responsible for formulating a systematic programme for sustainable maintenance of green agriculture, identifying the organic fertilizer required for various crops and improving the quality of such fertilizer production, producing pesticides and weedicides locally, identifying methodologies and monitoring mechanism for importing the limited scale possible shortages with high standards on the approval of the Sri Lanka Standards Institute in meeting the requirements through local production, enhancing the communication in transmitting to the public the health-related socio-economic benefits to be accrued from organic food production and consumption and enlisting the active support of the Public Service in this process and broadening the organic agriculture extension services at field level.

Through the gazette, the President directed the Presidential Task Force for Green Agriculture to liaise with Economic Revival and Poverty Alleviation Task Force and the Presidential Task Force for the creation of a Green Sri Lanka with sustainable Solutions for climate Changes.