Rain rain go away (from Sri Lanka) - Come again another day (in a mild way)

(February 09, 2011) Sri Lanka is severely affected by floods, landslides and other effects of climate change. As the floods are yet to recede, the estimates of losses are being released by various sources of the government. Sri Lanka government has roughly estimated that the floods have caused a damage worth of Rs. fifty billion to the economy while affecting people of 18 districts. Minister of Disaster Management Mahinda Amaraweera says that thousands of acres of cultivations, around 450 small and big irrigation schemes, at least 75,000 cattle and many thousands of poultry and other animals were destroyed in floods. Sri Lanka Minister...

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Posted in Agriculture , floods , food production , natural disaster

100,000 families landless in Mahaweli zones of Sri Lanka, says officials

(February 07, 2011) Sri Lanka government says that the farmers of the Mahaweli development areas are facing a severe shortage of land. The Director General of the Mahaweli Authority D.M.C. Disanayaka said to Sinhala website Ethalaya that currently around 100,000 families of the Mahaweli zones are landless. It is important the government assumed this in a time it is trying to grant thousands of acres of land for multi national companies to grow cash crops. Recently, the government called the big businessmen to express interest to acquire state land for mass scale farmi...

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Posted in landless , Mahaweli

Farmers across Asia support the Panama (Paanama) people to reclaim their lands

(February 06, 20110  About 190 farmer participants from the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka approved a resolution opposing the 'Land Grabbing' for the ‘Arugam Bay special tourism promotion zone’ and endorsed the struggles of the Panama (Paanama) peasantry to protect their lives, livelihoods and resources. The news was broken by the Movement for Land and Agricultural Reform (MONLAR), who attended the 3rd general assembly of the Asian Peasant Coalition (APC) in Hanwella, Sri Lanka last January 23-24, 2011. Comrade Sarath Fernando, the Convener of MONLAR, disclosed that members of the Asia-wide...

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Posted in Arugam Bay , Panama , torist promotion zone

Sri Lanka's vegetable delivery techniques, waste and new laws

(February 02, 2011) Sri Lanka media reports that President Mahinda Rajapaksa has directed the officials to acquire 400,000 plastic crates to be released to the market so that the vegetable transporters can use them in safe delivery of vegetables. The government has banned the use of gunny bags and other ad hoc packaging in delivery of vegetables and the use of crates has been made compulsory since February 01. The authorities say that 20% of the harvest is wasted while being transported using improper delivery techniques. The aim of the move of the government is to prevent the waste of vegetable harvest while being transported to the markets....

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Posted in fruit and vegetable exporters , plastic crates , transport , wastage