Sri Lanka’s largest supermarket operator, Cargills Food City said it would offer 500 grammes of pumpkin to every customer, whose bill value exceeds Rs.750, in a bid to help out the pumpkin farmers in Nawagaththegama.

The farmers in Navagaththegama, Konkadalwala and Gaminipura areas, who have harvested pumpkins valued at more than Rs.10 million, have been unable to sell their produce.

These farmers who chose to grow pumpkins since there wasn’t sufficient water for paddy cultivation, found themselves in a predicament where they couldn’t sell a kilo of pumpkin for even Rs.7 or Rs.8.
Hearing the cries for help from these farmers, who have taken loans to the tune of lakhs of rupees to grow their crops, Cargills Food City has stepped forward to their assistance.

It is reported that with the assistance of the Nawagaththegama District Secretariat and Puttalam District Samurdhi Directorate, Cargills has begun to purchase pumpkins from door to door.

“Cargills is engaged in distributing surplus pumpkins the company purchased to consumers. Towards this, every consumer who shops for more than Rs.750 at Cargills Food City is offered 500 grammes of pumpkin free of charge,” a Cargills Food City statement said.