Korea identifies good agricultural practices for Sri Lanka

The good agricultural practice (GAP) manuals and consulting report developed as part of a project for the modernisation of the plant quarantine system of Sri Lanka, with the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) grant of US $ 7.1 million, were ceremonially handed over to the Agriculture Department by the KOICA and project management consultants recently. 

As part of the project, Korean project management consultants with the Agriculture Department carried out the detailed study for few crops across the country and developed the GAP manuals, especially for 10 crops, namely eggplant, tomato, chili pepper, beans, cabbage, banana, pineapple, mango, avocado, papaya and guava, which will be a self-guide for the agriculture extension officers, farmers and other agriculture practices for improving their farming practices, based on the approved standards. 
Also, this guide will help them to obtain SL GAP certification for their products and gain a good price by selling these healthy vegetables and fruits to the market.   

The project has been implemented in line with the National Plant Quarantine Service (NPQS) of the Agriculture Department, under the purview of the Agriculture Ministry since 2019.  Followed by the ceremony, 10,000 printed manuals (Tamil and Sinhala) have been given to the Agriculture Department to distribute among their extension officers across the country and the softcopies are available to download from the Agriculture Department’s website [https://doa.gov.lk/naicc-books/#1611303308385-57287a47-bfd5] at free of cost. 
At the same time, the GAP promotional video has been developed and will be telecasted on TV channels to boost the practice among the famers and enlighten the public to consume standardised products. 

During the ceremony, KOICA Deputy Country Director Kim Doyun stated, “Today, we witness a remarkable milestone in the development of the GAP manuals for the agriculture sector in Sri Lanka and it will definitely influence farmer communities and stakeholders on the right direction to produce and purchase standardised agricultural products.” 
The handover of the GAP manual was held with the presence of key officials of the Agriculture Department in Kandy recently.