Hayleys Agriculture dominates National Agribusiness Awards

Thursday, 28 August 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Wins 10 awards including six Golds and a National Award for exceptional contribution to Sri Lankan agriculture industry

Hayleys Agriculture – the agribusiness arm of Hayleys PLC – maintained its top position at the annual National Agribusiness Awards which was held at the BMICH recently by winning 10 awards.

Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena presenting one of the many awards won by Hayleys Agriculture at the Agribusiness & Farmer Awards 2014 to the company’s Managing Director Rizvi Zaheed. President of the National Agribusiness Council Aruna Weerakoon and Chairman of the Organising Committee Rohitha Nanayakkara are also present

Sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Agribusiness Awards 2014 was organised by the National Agribusiness Council and was held for the ninth consecutive year, concurrently with the Pro Foods & Pro Pack AgriBiz Exhibition at the BMICH from 22 to 24 August. Hayleys Agriculture won six awards in the Large Category, three awards in the Small Category and one award under the Medium Category. Overall, the company won six Gold Awards, two Silver Awards, one Bronze and was the second Runner up among the National Award winners. With this year’s achievement, the total number of awards won by Hayleys Agriculture in the last five years amounts to 45 awards, with most of them being Gold awards. “This is an amazing feat which highlights the pre-eminent role played by Hayleys in the agriculture realm in Sri Lanka,” said Hayleys Agriculture Holdings Ltd. Managing Director and Hayleys Agribusiness Sector Head Rizvi Zaheed. The company is involved in every aspect of agriculture in Sri Lanka providing all agri inputs as well as producing a wide variety of agricultural products for both domestic and global markets. “We will continue to pursue our goal with passion and excellence in taking Sri Lankan agriculture to the world, whilst helping to achieve food security for all Sri Lankans,” he added. Business units that won Gold awards were HJS Condiments and Sunfrost for their impressive record of developing and growing Sri Lanka’s most successful global agri food supply chain, taking products from rural farmers and reaching a wide spectrum of global markets in over 30 countries. Within a short period of time HJS Condiments has developed six major product lines and accounts for 43% of the Sri Lanka’s total fruit and vegetable exports. Quality Seeds Company which won three Awards is the preferred flower seed and cut flower producer in Sri Lanka, while Hayleys Agro Biotech won a Gold Award for its pioneering work in reaching global markets across the world. The Agro Farms, Crop Protection and Agri Machinery divisions were also among the award winners for the contribution in provisioning high quality planting materials, extension services and new product introductions that have helped boost agricultural productivity and farmer incomes. Hayleys Agriculture is a significant contributor to the Agriculture sector in Sri Lanka with constant innovation and new product introductions, which helps improve productivity and value addition. The entrenched involvement of rural farmers through sustainable partnerships and expansion of global markets has helped the company to develop sustainable agri supply chains. In addition it has helped mitigate the impacts of adverse weather and chart a course of expansion and development. The recent venture into growing and processing of seaweed in the Mannar Basin is a fine example of the innovative spirit that prevails in the company.