News
Decrease in fertiliser input leads to drastic drop in coconut output
Climate change and wild animals also blamed
By Rathindra Kuruwita
A decrease in the fertiliser input has been one of the main reasons for a drop in the coconut harvest, Chairman of the Coconut Cultivation Board (CCB), Saman Dewage says,
“There was no fertiliser for about two years and now the price of fertiliser is very high,” he said.
Extreme weather events due to climate change also contributed to the decline in coconut production. “Pollination drops significantly when the temperature exceeds 30 degrees Celsius,” he said.
Dewage also said that a large number of coconuts are destroyed by wild animals such as monkeys and giant squirrels. Around 200 million nuts are destroyed each year by these animals, he said.
“You also need to replant coconuts to replace the old trees. According to our calculations cultivators need to replant about 10 percent of the trees each year. It has become hard to protect new plants because of porcupines, wild boars, and wild elephants. When coconut trees are young, we have to worry about red and black weevils. It has become difficult to control these pests because agricultural inputs are extremely expensive,” he said.
Dewage said Sri Lanka usually produces around three billion coconuts annually and it is highly unlikely that this number will be reached in 2025.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Coconut Development Authority (CDA), Shantha Ranathunga said that Sri Lanka earns about 700 million dollars from coconut exports annually. The export of coconuts have increased significantly over the years, he said.
“Compared to 2023, our exports have risen by about 21 percent. In 2023, we made about 700 million dollars, by the end of 2024, we expect to make 850 million dollars,” he said.
Director of the Coconut Research Institute (CRI) Dr. N. S. Aratchige said that the coconut tree is highly sensitive to the fluctuations of weather patterns. If the rainfall of a month is under 100 millimeters, it is considered a serious drought for coconut cultivation, she said. There is also no propagation if the temperature exceeds 33 degrees Celsius. “CRI has recommended several varieties and on average a cultivator has the potential to extract about 80 nuts per year. Some of our hybrid varieties, when managed under recommended conditions, yield about 130 nuts per year,” she said.
She said while the coconut cultivator can’t change weather, he or she can take steps to mitigate the drought. “We can address droughts by following techniques to retain moisture. We can reach the potential of extracting 80 to 130 nuts if we apply the right inputs and if we retain moisture in the soil.
“The world average is 5,000 nuts per hectare. We produce about 7,000 nuts per hectare. India has achieved high productivity in recent years and produces about 9,000 nuts per hectare on average. There are some states in India that extracts about 15,000 nuts per hectare. How have they done this? By using fertilizer and through irrigation systems. The Indian state provides huge subsidies for fertilizer and irrigation systems. For example, coconut farmers get free electricity if they use new irrigation methods. On the other hand, our input costs are high and we hardly use irrigation systems, we produce about 60 nuts per tree annually although we have the potential to produce 80 to 130 nuts per tree,” she said.
Aratchige also said that in most coconut producing countries the crop damage by mammalian species is low compared to Sri Lanka. However, the damage caused by the coconut mite and red and black weevils are the same as Sri Lanka, she said.
The Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) yesterday accused the government of seeking to use the proposed Protection of the State from Terrorism Act (PSTA) to suppress popular political activity, claiming that some of its provisions were more repressive than those of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).
FSP Education Secretary Pubudu Jayagoda told a media briefing, in Nugegoda, that the definition of terrorism in the Bill was so broad that it could be used to label almost any form of popular political activity as terrorism.
He said the Bill’s approach to defining terrorism was based largely on attempts to compel a government, or an international organisation, to do, or refrain from doing something, rather than on internationally recognised criteria, such as killings, causing serious bodily harm, kidnapping or acts intended to spread terror among the public.
Jayagoda also alleged that the Bill transferred substantial powers from the judiciary to the executive, while extending powers of arrest, investigation and detention to the armed forces, in addition to the police.
He claimed that the government had sought to portray the Bill as a replacement for the PTA while retaining or introducing provisions that could facilitate political victimisation and repression.
The FSP also questioned the government’s decision to proceed with the Bill, despite having previously sought public views on an earlier draft.
Jayagoda said a draft had been published earlier this year, with the period for public submissions ending on February 28, but the Bill subsequently gazetted was essentially the same draft with some provisions rearranged.
Jayagoda also referred to a letter reportedly sent by Attorney-at-Law Saliya Peiris, a member of a Committee, chaired by President’s Counsel Rienzie Arsecularatne, that had been appointed to draft the legislation. He said Peiris had stated, in the October 06 letter, that changes had been made to the draft prepared by the Committee.
“This means that even the Committee, appointed to prepare the Bill, was a deception,” Jayagoda alleged.
He said that the PSTA was fundamentally similar to the Anti-Terrorism Bill introduced by the previous government, in 2023, which the National People’s Power (NPP) opposed and challenged in court.
“If the NPP opposed that Bill then and is now bringing the same legislation before Parliament, the government must explain its position,” he said.
Jayagoda called on NPP MPs to oppose the PSTA in Parliament and urged trade unions and other groups to build a broad public movement against the legislation.
He challenged the government to an open debate on the Bill.
Former First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa was yesterday remanded until 13 October after being produced before the Colombo Magistrate’s Court following her arrest by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC).
Shiranthi, wife of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, was arrested at her residence on Poorwarama Road, Kirulapone, after CIABOC officers recorded a statement from her for nearly two hours.
According to the CIABOC, the arrest was made over allegations that Rs. 10 million obtained from the National Savings Bank through the Siriliya Saviya organisation was misappropriated.
The money was allegedly obtained to provide a Computed Tomography (CT) scanner to the children’s hospital. Investigators allege that the scanner was not provided and that the funds were instead unlawfully used.
CIABOC is investigating alleged offences under the Public Property Act and corruption-related provisions in connection with the transaction and other financial activities involving Siriliya Saviya, which was headed by Rajapaksa.
Rajapaksa returned to Sri Lanka on Monday night on a flight from Malaysia after travelling overseas for medical treatment. She left for Singapore on 16 September after being admitted to a private hospital in Colombo on 15 September following an illness.
She had been due to appear before the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) on 13 October in connection with its investigation into the financial affairs of Siriliya Saviya.
Meanwhile, her lawyers filed an anticipatory bail application before the Maligakanda Magistrate’s Court on Monday, seeking an order preventing her arrest in connection with the FCID investigation.
Former National Savings Bank (NSB) Chairman Pradeep Kariyawasam was yesterday granted bail by the Colombo Magistrate’s Court following his arrest by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC).
Kariyawasam, husband of former Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, was arrested in connection with the Bribery Commission’s investigation into the ‘Siriliya Saviya’ account linked to former First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa.
The investigation concerns financial activities involving the Siriliya Saviya initiative, which was headed by Rajapaksa, wife of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
CIABOC is continuing investigations into the alleged financial irregularities relating to the account.
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