Agriculture Department aims to boost fruit production by 2027

Colombo, June 24 (Daily Mirror) - The Department of Agriculture Department is planning to increase the production of banana, mango, papaya, pineapple and passion fruit by 2027. 

Accordingly, the department is planning to increase banana production to 19.5 metric tons per hectare, mango production to 9.5 metric tons, papaya production to 45 metric tons, pineapple production to 14 metric tons and passion fruit production to 30 metric tons by 2027.

The Department's Acting Director Dr. Kamani Ranatunga said that many technical measures have been planned for that purpose, such as variety breeding, hybrid variety breeding, high density cultivation, integrated pest control, the introduction of plant nutrients, the reduction of crop damage and the introduction of value-added production technology.

She said this while handing over the plan prepared by the Department for the growth of the agricultural sector in Sri Lanka by 2027 to Minister Mahinda Amaraweera today.

Accordingly, the consumption of fruits in Sri Lanka has increased to 12.8 million metric tons (1,283,039 metric tons) in 2023, Dr. Ranatunga said. 

"The annual requirement of fruits in this country is 19.6 million metric tons (196,9371 metric tons). There was a notable increase in the production of bananas, mangoes, pineapples and papayas. The export of fruits has also increased in 2023, and 38,201 metric tons of fruits have been exported," she said.

Meanwhile, Minister Amaraweera said that it is a national responsibility to save the foreign exchange spent on importing fruits that can be grown in the country.