The Hon. B. Ariyawansha
Hon. B. Ariyawansha raised concerns about the pepper sector’s export potential and the low prices received by farmers for “light berries,” which he said make up about half the harvest and are currently used for oil production in India. He asked whether the Government has a programme to establish a pepper oil production plant in Sri Lanka and what action will be taken to investigate and address a leaf-yellowing disease affecting pepper vines.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Mr. Speaker, my first supplementary question is this. This sector can earn significant export revenue—especially pepper and cinnamon. In Ratnapura, which I represent, pepper is cultivated; yields are now coming in several districts including Matara, Monaragala, Badulla, Kandy and Matale.
¶ 02 When harvests arrive, farmers first bring “light berries” (immature/bubble pepper) to market, which are used especially for pepper oil, currently produced in India. We have no such plant in Sri Lanka. About 50% of the harvest comes as light pepper. Establishing a plant here to produce oil from these light berries is vital. Farmers get very low prices now. Has the Government prepared a programme for this? Also, pepper vines are affected by a leaf-yellowing disease for 3–4 years; no proper investigation has been done. What action will be taken?
Provenance
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- Hansard, Thursday, 5 March 2026 ·No. 23375 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. B. Ariyawansha. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 5 March 2026. No. 23375. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/6910