Govt. to suspend pulse seed imports

Wednesday, 1 January 2014 09:24 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena has ordered the officials of the Department of Agriculture to suspend the import of pulse seeds

with immediate effect. The Minster has come to this decision since Sri Lanka is capable of producing sufficient amounts of bean seeds. He said imports of papaya seeds would also be suspended soon. The Ministry of Agriculture has launched a program to make the country self-sufficient in seeds of major food crops like rice, field crops and vegetables, etc. The Department of Agriculture has a Seed Certification and Plant Protection Service for this purpose.