Lassana Agri Innovation and India’s Agriplast to redefine greenhouse agriculture in Sri Lanka

From left: Agriplast Protected Cultivation (Pvt.) Ltd Vice President Sales and Marketing Sumit Suman, Agriplast Protected Cultivation (Pvt.) Ltd Director Sales and Marketing Abhishek Bhatt, Lassana Group Chairman Dr. Lasantha Malavige, Lassana Agri Innovations CEO Prasad Senadheera and Horticultural Inclusive Business Entrepreneur Joop Vegter

PIC BY PRADEEP PATHIRANA

• By Chamindra Wickramasinghe 

Lassana Agri Innovation and India’s Agriplast Protected Cultivation (Pvt.) Ltd entered into a memorandum of understanding in Colombo, last week, paving the way for advanced greenhouse solutions in Sri Lanka. 
Promising higher yields and safer food production, the collaboration will enhance greenhouse agriculture, an overlooked segment as an essential ingredient to transform 
Sri Lanka’s agriculture.

“The initiative will provide high-quality high-tech greenhouses and greenhouse accessories at an affordable price to the farmer,” Lassana Group Chairman Dr. Lasantha Malavige said. 
With Agriplast, Lassana Agri’s strategic direction is to transition farmers from open-field to modern agriculture, providing predictive revenue models and assuring a standard price based on input costs, to increase their profitability by at least 30-40 percent.

This would in return secure farmers financial support from funding agencies and ultimately help expand their capacities for production. The partnership thus sets the stage for advancement in agriculture and alleviating farmers from perennial poverty. 
“We create a financeable model for the banks, which can finance these entrepreneurs or farmers because the bank knows what the revenue is since we guarantee the revenue with a forward sale agreement,” Dr. Malavige revealed.

Assisting over 2.4 lakh farmers in India, with its over 70 years of combined experience, Agriplast’s latest contract signed for 500 hectares of greenhouses in India is a testimonial. 
“We are the largest greenhouse manufacturing company in India, capable of doing 700 acers a year,” Agriplast Protected Cultivation Director Sales and Marketing Abhishek Bhatt stated.  Renowned for its highest quality protected farming products, including mulch films and greenhouse covers, the company promotes sustainable farming practices while Ginegar Agriplast is the world’s largest greenhouse polyfilm manufacturer. 

There will be access to customised solutions in versatile greenhouse designs – from small, medium to large scale, along with technical solutions such as irrigation systems. 
“We will not only supply greenhouse material but also greenhouse construction and cultivation expertise. We will also provide total supply chain solutions, including marketing linkages, buyback, cold chain, packaging and distribution, so that this system will be sustainable,” Lassana Agri Innovation CEO Prasad Senadheera said.
Lassana Agri and Agriplast are to empower new entrants and farmer entrepreneurs, choosing the right technological solutions, with Lassana Agri’s seven-hectare greenhouse facility in Divulapitiya, the largest in the country, to be an incubation and knowledge-sharing centre for hi-tech farming.