Business

Major logistics companies urged to play a role in equitable distribution of agri produce

Published

3 years ago

2023/03/28

Seed and Planting Materials Association gives a press conference on March 24, at Lions Activities Club in Battaramulla, after holding their AGM 2023.

By Sanath Nanayakkare

Major logistics companies should step forward to transport and distribute the national agri food produce in a commercially viable manner to ensure that all parts of the country receive fresh produce in an equitable manner, Aruna Weerakoon, Chairman/Managing Director, Agro Culture Trends (Pvt) Ltd said addressing a press conference in Battaramulla recently.

Meanwhile, Waruna Madawanar-achchi, Managing Director, CIC Agri Businesses said although at times it is claimed that there was an excessive output of pumpkin which couldn’t be sold, he personally knew that half the country didn’t receive pumpkin because nobody came forward to transport it because it is a heavy commodity.

They made these remarks and a wide range of comments following the Annual General Meeting (AGM) 2023 of the Seed and Planting Materials Association (SAPMA).

“The urgent need to boost agricultural productivity and national food production for ensuring long term food security of the nation cannot be overemphasized. It is a well-known fact that a significant percentage of the population in the country is still incapable of meeting the required level of nutritious food to maintain their good health,” they said.

Responding to questions from the media on the private sector’s contribution to the national food production they said it was a useful question because certain sections of the media and vested interests keep criticizing them without actually knowing the true facts and data about the service they render to the agriculture sector.

“Today the private sector is accountable for total seed imports. We supply more than 75% of seed paddy, more than 80% of vegetable seed, almost 100% supply of maize seed, more than 50 percent of potato seed and 90% supply of planting material, they said.

“Seed is a vital input used in agricultural production and the increased usage of high-quality seed of superior crop varieties can be considered as the most effective and pragmatic way of enhancing crop productivity. This phenomenon is successfully practiced in many countries in the world. This vital input most often costs less than 10 percent of the total production cost and determines the efficient use of costly inputs like fertilizers. Seed supply, which includes both local production and imports, had been a government domain until the 1980s. During this period, seed shortages were frequently observed in the country during the peak harvesting seasons inconveniencing farmers and affecting food production. Due to heavy financial losses and supply disruptions the government decided to liberalize seed imports in 1984 with a view to getting the private sector involvement in the trade and this was followed by making a major policy shift in 1990’s to privatize the seed industry by offering many incentives to encourage private sector. With the state support and guidance, a couple of private seed enterprises have developed over the years and today the seed supply in the country has become a multi-institutional function involving public, private, and cooperative sectors relieving the heavy burden on the state coffers,” they said.

Responding to questions on the challenges of expanding the national seed supply, they said,” The inability to periodically upgrade technical knowledge of industry stakeholders, inadequate resources to expedite the development of high performing new crop varieties, attitudes of stakeholders and inability to develop public-private partnerships, ad-hoc regulatory changes, non-availability of accurate industry information to make management decisions and building public-private partnerships to make use of underutilized state infrastructure are the key challenges.”

Proposing the way forward for the sector, they listed out the following. A long-term policy to assure an uninterrupted supply of quality seed to farmers, a consistent policy to promote both local production and imports, avoiding ad-hoc regulations that create seed supply distortions, protecting both consumers (farmers) and genuine suppliers/producers, expediting the current variety registration process of the government, revisiting regulations that are prohibitive to industry development, enactment of breeder’s rights act to promote private sector plant breeding and programs to enhance farmer income by improving their productivity with the use of correct technologies including the increased use of quality seed.

Referring to PPP they said,” There are several limitations where each sector could contribute separately. The success of any National Seed Program depends on how best these two sectors could complement one another in delivering the final goal of increasing the availability and the usage of quality seed by farmers in the country.

All News Advertisement

Related Topics:Seed and Planting Materials Association

Up Next

JICA hands over Sewerage Master Plan to NWSDB

Don't Miss

Mackinnons Travels gets a fresh new look: new office opened in Vauxhall Street

Click to comment

Business

Salesforce Startup Program targets Sri Lanka’s high-growth tech sector

Published

14 hours ago

2026/01/9

Thilina Walpola

Bhattacharya (L) and Madusanka at the launch

Salesforce, the world’s leading AI-powered CRM platform, is set to expand its presence in Sri Lanka with the launch of the Salesforce Startup Program by the end of January 2026, signalling growing confidence in the country’s technology-led growth potential.

The move comes as Sri Lanka consolidates its position as the second-largest startup ecosystem in South Asia after India, with software, data and artificial intelligence-driven ventures accounting for nearly 60 per cent of the national startup base.

Industry observers say this concentration places Sri Lanka at a decisive stage where global exposure and enterprise access could unlock the next phase of scale.

Under the programme, Sri Lankan startups will gain access to Salesforce’s global ecosystem, including AI-powered platforms, business and technical mentorship, joint go-to-market opportunities and connections to enterprise customers, enabling founders to build globally competitive solutions from Sri Lanka.

“Sri Lanka has developed a strong base of technical talent and entrepreneurial ambition that is increasingly visible regionally and globally,” said Arundhati Bhattacharya, President and CEO of Salesforce South Asia.

“Through the Salesforce Startup Program, we aim to help startups move beyond early momentum to global relevance while delivering long-term economic impact,” he added.

He also said the initiative builds on the success of its Startup Program in India and Singapore, which today supports over 435 startups, including more than 230 AI-first companies. Several participants have expanded across Asia and beyond by building products natively on the Salesforce platform.

Responding to queries, he said Sri Lanka is also emerging as an important enterprise market for Salesforce, with major corporates such as John Keells Holdings and Cinnamon Hotels adopting the platform to modernise customer engagement, sales, marketing and loyalty management operations.

In parallel, Salesforce is strengthening the country’s digital talent pipeline through its Trailhead learning ecosystem, with plans to skill nearly 1,000 learners over the next year via local workforce development partners and community-led cohorts.

Chamil Madusanka, Head of Salesforce Practice and Salesforce Architect, said the programme arrives at a critical juncture for Sri Lanka’s startup ecosystem.

“Sri Lankan founders are increasingly building AI, data and enterprise software solutions with global relevance,” Madusanka told The Island Financial Review.

“What many startups need is structured access to enterprise customers, global mentorship and market exposure. This initiative creates that bridge, enabling local companies to scale faster while remaining rooted in Sri Lanka.”

He said the Startup Program is designed to act as a connective platform, bringing together startups, enterprises, technology partners, universities and developer communities to accelerate collaboration and innovation.

By Ifham Nizam ✍️

Business

Good news on risen foreign reserves exerts buoyant impact on bourse

Published

14 hours ago

2026/01/9

Thilina Walpola

CSE activities were extremely bullish yesterday following Central Bank Governor Dr Nandalal Weerasinghe’s announcement that Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves had risen to US $ 6.8 billion in December 2025, up US$ 791 million from November 2025.

The Governor provided the estimated economic growth while announcing the Central Bank’s policy agenda for this year.

In December Sri Lanka received budget support loans from the Asian Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Dr Nandalal Weerasinghe

Amid these developments both CSE indices moved upwards. The All Share Price Index went up by 226.81 points, while the S and P SL20 rose by 100.01 points. Turnover stood at Rs 12.3 billion with 12 crossings.

Top seven crossings that mainly contributed to the turnover were: Lee Hedges 18.2 million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 3.9 billion; its shares traded at Rs 416, Commercial Bank 2.1 million shares crossed for Rs 467.6 million; its shares traded at Rs 215, Ceylon Hotels 429,000 shares crossed for Rs 128.7 million; its shares traded at Rs 300, LB Finance 650,000 shares crossed for Rs 105 million; its shares sold at Rs 152.50, Ceylinco Holdings 31000 shares crossed for Rs 104.5 million; its shares traded at Rs 3400, Melstacorp 200,000 shares crossed tfor Rs 35.7 million; its shares sold at Rs 178.50 and Three Acres Farm 400,000 shares crossed to the tune of Rs 29.6 million; its shares fetched Rs 740.

In the retail market top seven companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were; Wealth Trust Securities Rs 1.17 billion (55.8 million shares traded), Commercial Bank Rs 509 million (2.4 million shares traded), HNB Rs 370 million (870,000 shares traded), ACL Cables Rs 303 million (three million shares traded), Prime Lands Residencies Rs 283 million (7.9 million shares traded), Lanka Realty Rs 227.5 million (4.7 million shares traded) and HNB Rs 218 million (332,000 shares traded). During the day 223.7 million share volumes changed hands in 55116 transactions.

Yesterday, investor interest in Wealth Trust and banking stocks led to higher activity levels, brokers said. Further, the real estate sector also performed well. Lanka Realty Investments PLC acquired 51 percent of the total number of shares in issue of Lee Hedges, CSE sources said. 13,057,595 ordinary voting shares were bought at Rs 216 each.

Yesterday the rupee opened at Rs 310.12/18 to the US dollar in the spot market, weaker from Rs 310.05/15 the previous day, dealers said, while bond yields opened marginally high.

By Hiran H Senewiratne ✍️

Business

Launch of monograph ‘Development: Not By Economics Alone’

Published

14 hours ago

2026/01/9

Thilina Walpola

The Gamani Corea Foundation (GCF) is pleased to announce the launch of the monograph Development: Not By Economics Alone by Dr. Nimal Sanderatne, Emeritus Chairperson of the Foundation. The foreword to the publication has been written by Dr. Godfrey Gunatilleke, one of Sri Lanka’s most eminent development economists. The launch ceremony will be held on Friday, 9th January 2026, at 4.00 p.m. at the Horton Lodge.

In this monograph, Dr. Sanderatne argues that development cannot be understood through economic indicators alone. He emphasizes that the quality of human capital depends not only on knowledge and skills acquired through formal education, but also on deeper, non-formal processes embedded in a society’s culture and value systems. These influence human behaviour, shaping work ethics, attitudes to work and leisure, capacity for teamwork, preferences between short- and long-term goals, and patterns of saving and consumption.

Dr. Sanderatne is a distinguished economist and academic, holding degrees from the Universities of London, Saskatchewan, and Wisconsin, and was conferred the Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) by the University of Peradeniya in 2004.