- IFSTSL to be restructured per Cabinet paper, econ centres, wholesalers, retailers to be made aware of mitigating losses, food science lab to be set up
Following a revelation that 221,955 metric tonnes (MTs) of vegetables and 290,151 MTs of fruits are damaged annually due to not following proper transportation related practices, the Ministry of Agriculture has focused on launching several programmes to mitigate post-harvest damages.
Speaking to The Daily Morning, the Ministry’s Media Director, Dharma Wanninayake said that research carried out by the relevant units of the Ministry has revealed that out of the total annual production, 19% of vegetables and 21% of fruits are being damaged due to non-adherence to proper transportation practices. He said that the destruction of vegetables and fruits in that manner amounts to 221,955 MT of vegetables and 290,151 MTs of fruits.
When queried as to whether the Ministry would take any steps to mitigate the situation, he said: “The Institute of Food Science and Technology Sri Lanka (IFSTSL) was established in 2011 to look into this issue and to initiate the necessary programmes to find solutions, but it is not functioning properly at present. Therefore, subject Minister Mahinda Amaraweera has decided to submit a Cabinet proposal seeking permission to restructure the IFSTSL.”
In addition, he said that during a discussion between Amaraweera and professors and other scholars representing several universities on the matter, the establishment of a food science laboratory with all required facilities had been suggested. He said that while it had been planned to submit a Cabinet paper in that regard in 2016, the same had however not been presented. Accordingly, the Ministry will be preparing and submitting the related Cabinet paper again.
“There are four foreign funded projects under the Ministry including the Agriculture Sector Modernisation Project and the Smallholder Agribusiness Partnerships Programme (SAAPP). It has been planned to educate farmers on mitigating post-harvest damage through these projects. In addition, cold storage facilities are to be built to store vegetables and fruits which are grown in Districts such as Galle, Matara, Hambantota, Nuwara Eliya and Badulla under the SAAPP so that vegetables and fruits can be stored in them. The necessary financial allocations have already been made for it,” added Wanninayake.
Speaking further, he said that although large scale supermarkets are following proper practices to transport agricultural products, particularly vegetables and fruits, dedicated economic centres and most wholesale and retail traders are not doing so. As a solution, he said that the Ministry, with the support of other organisations, would be paying attention to organise awareness programmes on mitigating crop related damages.
Source By themorning.lk
