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Big demand for Lankan spices abroad but supply not enough: Minister
The demand for spices from Sri Lanka in the international market is on the rise resulting in an increase of prices of the products locally, but exports will continue in view of the foreign exchange it gains.
Minor Exports Crop Promotion Development Minster Reginold Cooray said every variety of spice has a demand abroad, but the problem is meeting the demand.
Mr. Cooray said Sri Lankan spices are well known in foreign countries and the demand has hardly been met due to lack of supply. He said one of the issues in the cultivation of spices was that at times there is overproduction and farmers are unable to sell their produce.
“Sometimes the opposite happens and there is a poor harvest. As a result of changing weather patterns the farmers who plan out their cultivation the previous year face production problems,” he said. The minister said that goraka has no large scale cultivation because farmers fear to cultivate it as a goraka plant takes a long time to mature.
He said a project to plant 400 hectares of goraka is being planned to meet the demand.
He said a product improvement project of the ministry is being carried out to support farmers by supplying them with goraka plants to fill vacant spaces in their farms along with technical instructions on how to tend them. Mr. Cooray said as Sri Lanka is a poor country goraka exports can bring a huge amount of foreign exchange to the country.
At Bulathsinhala a goraka village is coming up where 500 goraka plants will be distributed to villagers while a new hybrid of sweet siyambala (tamarind) will also be planted, he said.
He said information and technology are lacking and only by cultivating spice crops on a commercial basis would it be a success.All spices must be exported, not only pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon and goraka but exporters claim business is affected due to the high price and lack of produce, he said. Mr. Cooray said most Sri Lankan spices are exported therefore the local market is teeming with cheap imported spices.
Spice trader M.I.M Kabeer said all spices fetch high prices adding he is carrying out his trade according to the prices in the Colombo market. He said he also sells goraka but it is very scarce in the market. A kilo of pepper sells at about Rs. 1250, goraka sells at about Rs. 350 at kilo while processed goraka is priced at Rs. 550 per kilo, he said.