The Hon. K.V. Samantha Viddyarathna - Minister of Plantation and Community Infrastructure
Sand extraction and sale took place on Chilaw Plantations Limited lands to generate income and supply potting sand for coconut cultivation, but the Minister said the activity caused environmental harm, failed to meet its objectives, and involved irregular transactions, leading the Ministry to suspend operations and order investigations. He provided annual coconut income and production figures for 2019-2023, noting a decline in 2023 yields due to rainfall and climate factors, fertilizer shortages linked to COVID-19 and the economic crisis, high input costs, management weaknesses, and malpractices. Measures proposed to improve yields include proper fertilizer use, water conservation and harvesting, pest and weed control, mulching, cover crops, organic manure, intercropping, erosion control, micronutrients, stronger agronomic supervision, better estate management, and reduced harvest losses.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, the answers to Hon. Ajith Gihan are as follows.
¶ 02 (a) (i) Yes. Sand was extracted and sold from lands belonging to Chilaw Plantations Limited (CPL). (ii) Objectives were to generate income for CPL and to produce planting material (potting sand) to promote coconut cultivation. (iii) Yes, there has been environmental harm, and the project has not achieved its intended objectives. We observed irregular transactions. Accordingly, the Ministry instructed CPL’s management to suspend activities and conduct investigations.
¶ 03 (b) (i) Annual income from coconut: - 2019: Estate income Rs. 348,349,082; Total income Rs. 506,641,013 - 2020: Estate income Rs. 592,179,338; Total Rs. 790,907,817 - 2021: Estate income Rs. 801,718,449; Total Rs. 1,210,896,497 - 2022: Estate income Rs. 882,287,388; Total Rs. 1,156,642,401 - 2023: Estate income Rs. 756,680,740; Total Rs. 993,707,915 (ii) No such information has been reported to us. (iii) Not applicable. (iv) Decline in coconut yield (nuts): - 2019: 14,993,952 - 2020: 11,943,494 - 2021: 14,715,763 - 2022: 15,172,334 - 2023: 11,728,576
¶ 04 Reasons: - Many divisions of CPL lie in dry and intermediate zones; inadequate rainfall in dry-zone estates reduced yields. Key determinants include temperature and rainfall patterns during female flower initiation (three months prior), and during the first three months post-anthesis; subsequent nutrition and field maintenance also matter. - Nationally, 2023 coconut production declined by about 12% over 2022; CPL mirrored this. - Suboptimal fertilizer application over the last five years due to COVID-19 disruptions, economic crisis, and high input prices; climatic impacts; management weaknesses; and some malpractices.
¶ 05 (v) Measures to improve yield: 1) Apply standard fertilizers appropriately by block 2) Implement water conservation and water harvesting 3) Optimize planting density 4) Control pests and diseases 5) Effective weed control 6) Mulch to conserve soil moisture 7) Use cover crops 8) Strengthen agronomic supervision 9) Apply organic manure 10) Intercropping 11) Prevent soil erosion 12) Apply micronutrients 13) Rainwater harvesting 14) Improve estate management and minimize harvest losses
¶ 06 (c) Not applicable.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Tuesday, 21 January 2025 ·No. 1737707091008005 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. K.V. Samantha Viddyarathna - Minister of Plantation and Community Infrastructure. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 21 January 2025. No. 1737707091008005. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/27185