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Thursday Dec 26, 2024
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Bumper harvest initiates first-ever Farmers’ Festival, with Sri Lankans stepping up to help local farmers
By Ruwandi Gamage
Pumpkin passion has taken the country by storm with local farmers harvesting a bumper crop this season, resulting in an absolute abundance of pumpkins all over the country.
In a first-of-its-kind initiative, last week Green Path was an explosion of shades of orange and green with the Pumpkin Farmers’ Festival giving farmers an opportunity to sell their produce instead of letting it go to waste.
Sri Lankans lined up in their hundreds to aid our local pumpkin farmers by purchasing their produce. Every single stall was filled to bursting point with beautifully round pumpkins and the appetising aroma of cooked pumpkin filled the air, turning the whole area into an impromptu street food festival.
But it didn’t all happen by chance – this unique event was organised by Sarvodaya Development Finance and Co-Exist Foundation, with several objectives. Apart from the overarching objective of selling as many pumpkins as possible to help the farmers, the event also educated and inspired the crowd on the many uses of pumpkin that may have gone unnoticed.
While many of us eat boiled manioc, other root vegetables, breadfruit and so on with side servings of lunu miris or katta sambol, it was an all-new experience for me to try boiled pumpkin with desiccated coconut and sambol. The pumpkin cakes also grabbed my interest, but I didn’t get a chance to sink my teeth into one since they ran out very fast!
It was a heart-warming experience to see the crowds lining up to help our farmers in their time of need. It goes without saying that the farmers were highly appreciative of the initiative and the resultant earnings.
We spoke to a couple of farmers at the event who had come all the way from Nochchiyagama in Anuradhapura to sell their crops. With beaming smiles they told Weekend FT how the festival had helped them prevent their harvest and hard work from going to waste and had also ensured that their families would not go hungry.
“From the collective harvest of 24,000 kilos of pumpkin we brought to the festival today, more than half has already been sold already,” said farmer Aruna Pushpakumara, speaking to us at mid-day.
“We were able to make good profits thanks to this festival. Usually we sell our pumpkin harvest at the Dambulla Economic Centre for a quarter of the price compared to what we were able to earn today.”
Praising the organisers for the extent of their assistance, farmer M. Wijayarathne said: “The gentlemen who organised this festival also offered free transport for us to bring the harvest in, which we deeply appreciate, as it allows us to take home the entire profit we made today. All the good people who helped organise this and those who helped us by buying pumpkins have made us and our families happy. Today was a success.”
Sarvodaya Development Finance CEO Nilantha Jayanetti, one of the main organisers of this event, told Weekend FT how the initiative for the festival sprang up during a trip to Anuradhapura, when they witnessed farmers with stacks of pumpkin on the roadside struggling to sell their produce. It’s not just this festival that the bumper crop of pumpkins has brought about – it has also resulted in an abundance of pumpkin dishes and desserts in homes and restaurants these days, with some of the more innovative dishes that caught my eye and made my mouth water being pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin bread and pumpkin gnocchi!
This project only helped 25 farmers sell their bumper crop, but our farmers still need our help, so if you haven’t done your bit to assist them in their hour of need, it’s time for some pumpkin consumption!
Pix by Shehan Gunasekara
Pumpkin is good for you!
Rich in vitamins A, B, E, minerals, antioxidants and fibres and low in calories due to high water content, pumpkin is a food compact with nutrients. There are many health benefits one can gain from the daily use of pumpkin in meals:
