The Hon. Dharmapriya Dissanayake

¶ 01 Mr. Presiding Member, in today’s debate on the Vote on the Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure, many points were raised. As an MP for Kurunegala District and a resident of the coconut triangle, I wish to speak on coconut.

¶ 02 Sri Lanka’s economy historically rested on tea, coconut, and rubber. Among these, coconut is special to me because I live in a coconut-growing area. We expect the Budget to allocate substantial funds for coconut-based products. Plans are in place to produce around 3,000 million nuts annually. Hitherto we earned around Rs. 247 billion per year from coconut exports; we aim to increase that to Rs. 265 billion this year — about USD 825 million rising to USD 900 million. We are working to improve cultivation, add more land, and develop intercropping. The NPP Government plans a major coconut program under this Budget.

¶ 03 The biggest problem now is coconut land alienation and misuse. Over 76 years, successive governments have harmed coconut cultivation. Kurunegala Plantations Limited lands have been appropriated by certain former ministers. Former Minister Salinda Dissanayake acquired 76 acres in 1992; former President Mahinda Rajapaksa took 17 and 20 acres for private parties; in 2024, former President Ranil Wickremesinghe took 50 acres for a special reason — the Kotelawala Medical Faculty — but now it has become private land without basis.

¶ 04 The Fragmentation Board was established to prevent fragmentation of tea, rubber, and coconut estates. Yet it ended up enabling destruction of coconut lands. I believe this has now changed. Land sales significantly curtailed coconut production.

¶ 05 Near Kurunegala city, land values are high. Lands over 5 acres cannot be fragmented, yet 20-acre plots were effectively destroyed by officials citing various reasons. Alongside animal damage, the actions of former ministers have devastated coconut.

¶ 06 A coconut tree’s lifespan is about 70 years; after about 50 years, intercropping should be done with proper planning. No government provided such programs for years. Coconut landowners lost interest, sold lands, and left cultivation. Now state plantation companies — Kurunegala Plantations, Chilaw Plantations, and others — have begun large-scale intercropping and improvement. With proper inputs, fertilizer, care, and restoration of irrigation, production can increase. Farmers who love coconut were absent in recent times. If a nut fetches Rs. 120–150, both landowners and processors can be happy. Many value-added products can be produced, and a large industry can thrive, especially in the North Western Province. We thank the Government for support in this Budget and look forward to solutions to the coconut issue.

¶ 07 Thank you.