The Hon. Namal Karunaratne
Hon. Namal Karunaratne said the export crop sector, including cinnamon and other major crops, has strong potential to earn foreign exchange. He noted past malpractices such as imported pepper being mixed and re-exported as Sri Lankan produce, and said steps are being taken with Ministers and farmer organizations to prevent this. He added that the Budget has substantially increased funding for the Department of Export Agriculture to promote cultivation and address marketing issues so farmers receive fair prices.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 This sector can bring dollars to the country. There are about 14 major crops including cinnamon. In the past there were significant problems, including “re-exporting” malpractices—pepper from Indonesia or Vietnam being mixed and re-exported under “Made in Sri Lanka.” We discussed this with several Ministers and farmer organizations, and raised our voices. We are acting to prevent such malpractice. This year’s Budget has allocated significantly higher funds—about triple—for DEA to promote these cultivations and to intervene in marketing issues so farmers get a fair market.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Wednesday, 6 August 2025 ·No. 1755159820030645 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Namal Karunaratne. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 6 August 2025. No. 1755159820030645. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/17101