MONLAR initiates Zero budget farming in Vanni

MONLAR made an initial visit to the Northern region of Sri Lanka to find out the possibilities of helping the war affected and recently resettled people in Vanni, trying to negotiate their way forward through the rubble of what's left of their lives. To restart their livelihoods based mainly on agriculture which is also the main livelihood practice of the major part of the community there. Jeyapurm, some 40 kilometers south west from Killinochchi in the Vanni region was a strong hold of LTTE before it all came to an end in a heap of destruction, the end result of the 30 year long war in Sri Lanka. The ill-famed 'Black July' of 1983 (the mass...

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Posted in Killinochchi , Vanni , Zero budget farming

Paddy production, rice and wheat flour imports; boasting and reality | වී නිෂ්පාදනය, සහල් හා පිටි ආනයන; පම්පෝරි හා ඇත්ත

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Posted in paddy production , rice imports , Sri Lanka , wheat flour imports

Only 30% of the land of the people are clear of land disputes

(July 20, 2010) Sri Lanka Minister of Land and Land Development Janaka Bandara Thennakoon says that the government expects to amend the act of registration of land rights so as the land disputes can be resolved fast. Participating in an interview with the state-owned Sinhala daily The Silumina newspaper recently, the Minister pointed out that mere 30% of the land of the people are clear of land disputes. The Minister also said that a land tribunal will be set up soon to resolve the land disputes in a short period of time. Presently, the judicial procedures basically in district courts to resolve land disputes take long times and people face severe hardship due to them. The Minister explained that under the ‘Bim Saviya’ programme, the data on the people’s land is gathered. The work...

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Posted in Janaka Bandara Thennakoon , land , Minister of Land and Land Development

Sri Lanka government to set up a land tribunal

(July 09, 2010) Sri Lanka Minister of Land and Land Development Janaka Bandara Thennakoon says that the government has decided to set up a land tribunal to settle the land disputes. The aim of this tribunal is to solve the land disputes quickly, the Minister said. According to him, only 5% of Sri Lanka’s land is free from disputes. The land disputes take long times to be settled through the normal judiciary proceedings in Sri Lanka. There are many land cases that have taken entire life times of the parties to be solved. This cause immense trouble to land owners and also prevent productive use of these lands ...

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Posted in Janaka Bandara Thennakoon , land , land tribunal

Sri Lanka agricultural authorities in a move to commercialize organic farming

(July 09, 2010) Agricultural authorities of Sri Lanka is trying to make organic farming another commercial farming method. Organic Fertilizer Bureau says that Sri Lanka government has allocated Rs. 225 million to popularize the production and use of organic fertilizer in the country. The aim of the government is to minimize the use of imported chemical fertilizer through the popularization of organic fertilizer among farmers. Sri Lanka government spends Rs. 65 billion annually for the fertilizer subsidy. This subsidy goes mainly to the rice industry. The Bureau reports say that already 12,000 acres of paddy are cultivated in Hambanthota,...

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Posted in commercial farming , organic farming , organic fertilizer , Organic Fertilizer Bureau

CEPA: What is it? and Why ?

INVITATION TO SEMINAR DISCUSSION ON CURRENT TRENDS IN THE GOVERNMENT’S ECONOMIC AND DEVELOPMENT POLICY The Movement for National Land and Agricultural Reform (Monlar) and the Law & Society Trust (LST) invite you to a seminar discussion on the post-war and post-election economic and development policy of the present Government. Dileepa Witharana (Open University of Sri Lanka) will speak on 10 Years of the India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement and issues related to the proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with India. General discussion on the UPFA’s economic and development policies will follow. THURSDAY 15 JULY 2010, 10am-12pmNATIONAL LIBRARY AND DOCUMENTATION SERVICES BOARD AUDITORIUMNo. 14, INDEPENDENCE AVENUECOLOMBO 7 Medium: Sinhala Please confirm your participation...

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Posted in Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) , Dileepa Witharana , MONLAR

A People’s Commission on food, nutrition and agriculture

By Sarath Fernando The efforts made so far to develop an effective policy and strategy for food production, marketing and consumption to solve the most essential aspect of food, namely to solve the needs of food and nutrition of the ordinary poor people have failed over the last 30 years. The Nutrition and Food Security Assessment in Sri Lanka conducted recently ( March 2010 ) by the Medical Research Institute of the Ministry of Health, UNICEF and The WFP ( World Food Programme ) has revealed this tragic situation. It has revealed that the nutritional situation of the ordinary people has not improved in any way. (with 19.2% stunting, 11.7...

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Posted in Agriculture , food , nutrition , Sarath Fernando

Sri Lanka importing chicken from Brazil

(July 01, 2010) The controlled price of a kilo of chicken is Rs. 350 but it is often sold at higher prices scot-free. Chicken price has escalated despite price control as the traders have raised prices of the products with value addition. Giving up the self-imposed price control on chicken, Sri Lanka government has decided to import 3000 metric tons of chicken to balance the shortage in the market and to regulate the escalating prices. Sri Lanka presently produces only 9000 metric tons of chicken per annum while the annual consumption is 12,000 metric tons. The Minister of Cooperatives and Internal Trade Johnston Fernando says that the...

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Posted in Brazil , chicken , poultry , price control , Sri Lanka