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Rice Farmers Profit from Pickles in Eastern Sri Lanka
FrontLines - July 2009
By Vibeke Greni and Lorna Middlebrough
Colombo, Sri Lanka—Traditional rice paddy farmers like P.G. Dayananda are embracing
modern agricultural practices and improving their incomes by expanding to a cash crop with high demand: pickles.
USAID, in partnership with the Sri Lankan agricultural manufacturer
Hayleys Group, is helping Tamil, Muslim, and Sinhalese rice farmers to increase their incomes and communities to begin working
together after years of conflict.
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Hayleys training manager, assisted by a translator, uses equipment provided by USAID to explain the importance of land preparation and water management for a good harvest to Tamil, Muslim, and Sinhalese farmers during a training program in eastern Sri Lanka.
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Farmers in the eastern districts
of Ampara and Moneragala
have started to grow small cucumbers that are pickled in brine to become gherkins for the export market. Hayleys’ market access offers tremendous opportunities
for Sri Lanka’s farmers to switch from subsistence to commercial farming.
The four-month project started last April with 160 farmers growing
cucumbers during the idle months between the two traditional
rice seasons. These farmers earned an additional $232 on average, a substantial amount for paddy farmers in the region.
For I.K. Bandula, a farmer from Rununugama, Ampara District, the extra $190 he earned from one cucumber harvest will be put to good use. “This is a help to me and my family as it will help me settle some of my defaulted loans,” he said.
After the pilot project ended, Hayleys expanded the program to work with 400 local farmers who produced 437 metric tons of cucumbers, valued at over $75,000. The forecast for 2009 includes 600 farmers producing 1,500 metric tons of cucumbers valued at over $135,000, or an average of $226.11 per farmer.
“The pilot project with USAID is one of the most exciting
projects in the agriculture sector because it is introducing modern agricultural practices to a long-neglected area of our country,” said Rizvi Zaheed, Hayleys Group director. He predicts
that “[the] success of the pilot project could be the catalyst
for an agricultural renaissance
in the Eastern Province through a conversion to modern practices and concepts.”
As a result of Sri Lanka’s longstanding conflict, the country’s
eastern region has lagged behind the more prosperous western part of the island in economic development and contributes
only 4 percent to the Sri Lankan Gross Domestic Product. With the return to government control in 2007, efforts are now underway to rebuild the multi-ethnic eastern region.
The farmers selected to participate in the pilot project represent all major ethnic communities
of the East—Sinhalese, Tamils, and Muslims. P.M.N. Dayaratna, deputy director of agriculture in Ampara District, said the project was important because it helped to reconcile the three ethnic groups by sharing
knowledge, experience, and market information.
Hayleys Group accounts for 34 percent of Sri Lanka’s exports of fruits and vegetables and is the sole exporter of gherkins
from Sri Lanka. At 8,000 tons a year, the yield accounts for 50 percent of the market for bottled pickles in Japan. Hayleys Group is also a major supplier to well-known international brands such as McDonalds, Burger King, Unilever, and Heinz, and accounts for 2.7 percent of Sri Lanka’s export income.
“Our partnership with Hayleys will help build a value chain that will bring sustainable
economic growth to those in serious need in eastern Sri Lanka,” said Rebecca Cohn, USAID’s director in the country. “This is one way that people can move up the path from poverty to prosperity.
★
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by the Bureau for Legislative and Public Affairs
U.S. Agency for International Development
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