The export oriented Vakarai Green Cucumber project has earned US$ 10.3 million in the first 10 months of this year, the Agriculture Ministry said.
The cultivation of green cucumbers in Batticaloa Vakarai which has been started by the Agriculture Sector Modernization Project (ASMP), which is an export-oriented foreign project implemented by the Agriculture Ministry, has now become a project that earns the necessary dollars for the country.
Five hundred farmers in the Vakarai area of Batticaloa cultivate 500 acres of green cucumber and the harvest is exported to many countries including Japan as a value added product.
In order to monitor the cultivation of green cucumbers in Vakarai, the Minister of Agriculture, Mahinda Amaraweera, recently (5) visited the green cucumber processing centre located in Vakarai and looked into the way of cultivation.
Green cucumbers in Vakarai are processed into value added products and offered to the foreign market. It is a special feature that green cucumbers from Sri Lanka are used for food products in several countries including Japan.
In the last three years, the green cucumber project has earned 33 million dollars for Sri Lanka.
The project has managed to earn $10.03 million in the last 10 months of 2022.
The green cucumbers grown by farmers in Vakarai are purchased by Hayleys and processed into value added products using new technology and sent to the market.
Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said the current government’s aim is to produce a generation of farmers who can cultivate by achieving export.
In order to attract especially the youth to agriculture, agriculture in this country should become an income generating sector. The Agriculture Sector Modernization Project has made the farmers a high income earned by providing the necessary new technology, financial allocations, equipment as well as the necessary market for the sale of the products to the farmers.
The minister also mentioned that even though these projects, which are being implemented under the World Bank assistance, will be completed in another year; they will continue to run these projects through the use of government funds.
The Minister observed the activities of Vakarai Green Cucumber Processing Center and tasted the salad cucumbers processed into value-added products produced there.
by Daily News Sri Lanka
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