ComBank celebrates success of its pilot ‘Agri Modernisation village’

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon recently returned to Mahilankadu in Kilinochchi – the Bank’s pilot ‘Agri Modernisation Village’ – to celebrate its success by participating in a harvest ceremony.

Mahilankadu is to be the prototype for an ambitious village-by-village mission launched by the Bank to propagate technology in the agriculture sector, encompassing all areas of agricultural potential in the country.

A team led by Commercial Bank Deputy General Manager – Personal Banking Delakshan Hettiarachchi participated in the harvest ceremony at Mahilankadu, which was also attended by Kilinochchi Government Agent S. Muralitharan, the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Jaffna Prof. K. Pakeerathan, the Regional Manager of the Central Bank’s Northern Region S. Paheerathy and the Asst. Commissioner of Agrarian Services B. Thewadaran

Among the highlights of the event were traditional rituals to honor the spirits for the good harvest, demonstrations of some of the modern harvesting techniques introduced through the programme, speeches by key stakeholders on the progress and potential of the programme as a model for other regions, endorsements from farmers on how the programme has positively changed their practices and incomes, and the donation of a Multi Chopping Machine to the Faculty of Agriculture of the Jaffna University for use in its community training programmes.