GAP key to boost fruit and vegetable exports: LFVPPEA Chairman

From left: Sri Lanka Fruit and Vegetable Producers, Processors and Exporters Association General Secretary Imdadh Marikkar, Sri Lanka Fruit and Vegetable Producers, Processors and Exporters Association Chairman Annes Junaid, CCC Secretary General and CEO Mangala P. B. Yapa, Sri Lanka Fruit and Vegetable Producers, Processors and Exporters Association 1st Vice Chairman Zuraish Hashim – Pic by Lasantha Kumara

By Waruni Paranagamage

Lanka Fruit and Vegetable Producers, Processors and Exporters Association (LFVPPEA) Chairman Annes Junaid said that the industry needs to follow Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), in order to overcome barriers in the export market.

Addressing the 34th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of LFVPPEA he said that the over usage of chemicals in agricultural lands, poor packing methods and lack of post harvest technologies were the current major issues that the industry should address.

“Sri Lanka farmers use Ethephon (chemical) for agricultural plants and this chemical has high capacity of causing cancer. Our farmers used to follow these bad practices and it was detected by the European Union (EU), especially with the Sri Lankan pineapples which were exported to EU containing Ethephon for a long time,” he said.

Sri Lanka is adjusting well to the stringent ISO 22000 series and to the health and safety regulations stipulated by the European community. Farmers are constantly educated to practice GAP at the nurseries and some farms are certified under the global GAP certification. The processing/manufacturing facilities owned by the export companies comply with local standards (SLSI) and also with international quality standards such as ISO, HACCP, and EU standards.

Sri Lanka has been warned by the EU regarding the quality of its exported fresh fruits and vegetables, from November 2014.

The Export Development Board (EDB) data reveals that Sri Lanka has earned $ 25 million from vegetable exports and $ 44 million from fruits exports in 2014. The exported income of vegetable and fruit has been increased by 25.8% and 51.8% respectively compared with 2013.

However, the vegetable export income in August 2015 has declined by 39% to the value of $ 14.69 million compared to $ 24.7 million value of exports recorded in 2014. The export income of fruit in August 2015 declined by 51.4% to the value of $ 21.52 million compared to $ 44.32 million value of export income reported in 2014.

The report revealed that the United Arab Emirates, Maldives and India were the major destinations for Sri Lankan fruit and vegetable.

Junaid further asserted that though the fruit and vegetable export market has high increasing demand and high potential to grow, the lack of production lands was the other major problem to be overcome.

“Sri Lanka has entered in to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China to export the banana, but what we need is more land for commercial cultivation. We have hybrid commercial cultivation currently. But that’s not enough to develop the industry,” he added.

LFVPPEA holds 34th AGM

By Waruni Paranagamage

The 34 Annual General Meeting of Lanka Fruit and Vegetable Producers, Processors and Exporters Association (LFVPPEA) was held on 30 September at Board Room, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC).

With the objective of encouraging the continued development of the fruits and vegetable industry potential, LFVPPEA creates a platform for its membership to interact with each other, to disseminate information which will improve the industry. The association promotes and explores foreign market opportunities and requirements and helps the stakeholders to establish standards of exports.

LFVPPEA Chairman Annes Junaid said that the fruit and vegetable export market had achieved significant growth in 2015 compared to 2014.

“The performance of fruits and vegetable exports in 2015 was not in a good stand compared with the previous year. The potential in the export market is much higher than we had. The demand is much beyond the supply,” Junaid asserted.  

He said that the lack of lands for commercial agriculture, poor agricultural methods of rural farmers and increasing of fertiliser usage in agricultural lands were the major issues in the sector, which was need to be addressed, immediately.

Currently, the Association is working with the Export Development Board (EDB) and Department of Agriculture (DoA) in order to interact with selected regions officers in order to implement the Government’s budget decisions for sustainable agricultural productivity. It regularly conducts seminars and awareness workshops among the stakeholders including post-harvest technology, packaging for export, application of pesticides and other good agricultural practices.

The keynote speaker of the event, CCC CEO Mangala P.B. Yapa said that the industry needed good agricultural practices in order to gain a good harvest. He said that the quality of production was coming via the good agricultural practices.

“There are so many producers who can’t see beyond their production and they use a lot of fertiliser and chemicals to get quick harvest. We have high potential to develop the industry. So the farmers should follow good agricultural practices. Further the implementation of the actions, against the barriers in field, is also needed to overcome the industry,” Yapa added.

He said that the CCC was more than willing to support the association members to be productive in fruits and vegetables produce and export market.

The LFVPPEA entered in to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the CCC on 1 November 2012. The CCC has been dynamic in foreign important trade links with the respective partner for the benefit of the association members and the business community engaged in the export trade and in facilitating the realisation of strategic partnership to exploit trade opportunities.

The newly-appointed Board for the year 2014/2015 consists of Zuraish Hashim – Vice Chairperson, S. Gnanaskandan – Immediate Past Chairman, Imdadh Marikar – Secretary, and Upali Ranasinghe – Treasurer.