Eco-friendly organic farm developed by HVA Farms

During the last week our company has come under a malicious campaign by persons calling themselves environmentalists, issuing derogatory press releases to the print and electronic media.

These articles have also been copied by foreign websites with intended adverse results for our group of companies, particularly the tea export arm with a business presence in 40 countries.

In the circumstances, the company would like to submit, the following facts with documentary evidence to advise the media and through that the public who have been misinformed, the truth about the organic farm project undertaken by our company.

In recent times, an alarming number of patients in the agricultural districts of Sri Lanka have been identified with Chronic Kidney Disease or CKD directly connected to the excessive use of chemical fertiliser, pesticides, and weedicide. It has now reached an alarming proportion resulting even in agitation within the government ranks for the control of these harmful chemicals entering our food chain.  

In this background, the vociferous action of a foreign funded NGO (which is operating without proper legal base or even registration as a company) campaigning against our organic project smacks of a hidden hand with vested interest to jeopardise investment in food security of Sri Lanka.

The project undertaken by the company has taken over 12 years to get the statutory approvals culminated by a Supreme Court direction (attached) to allocate land for the HVA organic project. It is also a pertinent fact that no political interference or influence was ever applied to get the project off the ground and the long time taken for the tedious process itself confirms this fact.

HVA Foods Plc, the public quoted company for marketing value-added tea brand ‘Heladiv,’ is present in over 40 countries, including the most sophisticated and clinically strict markets like Japan. The HVA Group has always conducted business according to ethics and accepted conventions.

The Annual Report of HVA Foods PLC, which can be accessed through our website – www.heladiv.com – in its first few pages deal extensively on these ethos.

Please find below (Schedule No.1) the guiding principles deployed in the organic project in Puttalam and the current status of the project with our pilot farm developed over 12 years as an example of our resolve to grow clean foods in a terrain absolutely dry and arduous.

We also attach a copy of the Supreme Court order issued in May 2009 giving the authority and the directions for land disbursement together with the plan of the allocated land certified by the Supreme Court, as well as the possession of land given by the Divisional Secretary based on the Supreme Court order.

Our investigations have revealed the two self proclaimed environmentalists Sujeewa Chamikara and Thilak Kariyawasam calling themselves members of Sri Lanka Nature Forum is not a registered entity and is supported by a donor agency based in Germany.

Further it is now revealed that their task is to disrupt development projects in Sri Lanka, on the pretext of protecting the environment and instigating the people against companies and individuals involved in development projects and discourage investors in developing projects outside the western province, particularly in former conflict areas.

Schedule No. 1 – Main parameters and guiding principles of the project

• Introduce dairy and poultry farming on organic principles for food production and organic fertiliser.
• Engage in secondary processing of the food crops by extraction, pulping, freeze-drying and dehydration.
• Conserve water by measured drip/sprinkler irrigation, rain harvest and waste water purification
• Cultivation of fruits, vegetables, pulses, nuts and forest tree species on the principle of organic agriculture.
• Enhance the habitat by utilising the ‘forest garden’ concept practiced by the Mayans in the Amazon.
• Conserve energy by abundant usage of solar, wind and dendro power.
• Establishment of a research laboratory to enhance cropping, nutrient values and environmental aspects and thereby provide a service to national agriculture.
• Establishment of a rootstock nursery of indigenous tree species.Development of an out-grower famer net work for increasing capacity whilst improving their income

• CSR projects to assist the schools, rural hospitals and places of worship in the area.
• Qualify for carbon-credit and reduce the carbon footprint.

Current status of the project

Pilot project – The 25 acre pilot project started in 1998 is a total success. The pilot project was undertaken to gather data on soil, water, rainfall, crop types, interference from animals, etc.

The development of the pilot farm was based on the guiding principles described above and a visitor to this project will see firsthand the credibility of our statement. At present, the test crops are green orange (Bibile sweet), mango, cashew, guava and papaya. Crop trials on a range of vegetables too proved successful and will be developed extensively in the main project.

Current papaya stand of 2,000 trees with the potential of producing 5,000 kgs of ripe fruit per month will be increased to 5,000 by mid 2013. Papaya is produced for local and export orders. HVA is the pioneer in branded papaya under Heladiv organic label and even exported papaya to the resorts in Maldives during early 2000. Unfortunately the production was halted due to court action taken by an NGO on falsified facts and the entire papaya plantation of 10,000 trees was destroyed. The current plantation was re-started after the direction of the Supreme Court on removal of the injunction placed by a lower court.

The orange trees numbering 800 have produced good crops during the past few years. The last orange crop was in excess of 10,000 fruits during the two seasons in 2011/2012. The test plots of mango and cashew numbering 600 trees has produced satisfactory results.

Infrastructure on the pilot farm comprises a drip irrigation system, solar power plant, solar-powered perimeter fence, processing shed, and a manager’s bungalow.

In order to create the ideal forest garden conditions, forest species numbering over 500 have been planted in the pilot farm.

As per the project TOR, a cattle farm is established to generate rich organic matter. This concept of producing natural urea and organic matter will be implemented in the main project on a larger scale.

Please find attached the following as documentary evidence to our statement above:

• Supreme Court certified plan clearly demarcating the exclusion of Thabowa reserve, thick jungle and reservoirs of water
• Supreme Court order of 19 May 2009
• Land possession order issued by the Divisional Secretary on subsequent to the due legal and statutory process of land allocation.