Lack of quarantine equipment prevents fruits being exported to Japan, China
Plans have been drawn by Nelna companies to set up a new fruit processing factory in Sri Lanka at an estimated cost of Rs. 1000 million with foreign participation, in the future.
“We have around 80,000 mango plants in a 500 acre farm in the Ampara district,” said Nelna Group’s Founder and its Chairman W. E. Gunapala Nanayakkara addressing a media briefing on the 20th anniversary celebrations of the Nelna, group of companies at a reception and a media briefing held at the Light House Club at the Marine Drive in Colombo Fort recently.
The Nelna Group was formed by Mr. Nanayakkara having worked in several other poultry farms in the country to gather experience. A new state- of- the- art poultry factory was opened in 2000 to facilitate production.
Nelna Group director Punya Nanayakkara said that Nelna has become the largest mango producer in the country under the Nelna Mango brand TJC category for the local and foreign markets. “We export mangoes to countries such as the Maldives, Singapore, Dubai, Qatar, Oman and intend to set up a state-of-the-art fruit and vegetable processing plant. Our clients have shown a keen interest in our mango products.”
However, she expressed concern that mangoes could not be exported to countries such as Japan, China and Korea owing to restrictions placed on quarantine procedure. Discussions are going on with the Agriculture Ministry for the importation of a state-of- the- art quarantine machine that will ultimately pave the way for the export of mangoes even to countries like Australia and New Zealand.
Nelna Group General Manager Dr. Mangala Amarasinghe said that around 130-135,000 chickens are produced each month in 34 registered and licensed farms in Sri Lanka. Chickens are produced in open farms or in hatcheries. “Consumption of chicken is an important source of nutrition to reduce malnutrition in the country. It is the cheapest source of protein available today.” However he denied reports that hormones were being fed to chicken to fatten them. “Hormones are costly and therefore it was not feasible to use hormones in the poultry industry.” The company for its management and production process has also received the ISO 9001, ISO 22,000, ISO14, 100SLS, HACCP and GMP certifications.
Nelna has one of the most modern poultry manufacturing plants in the country powered by cutting edge technology, machinery to meet international standards. It has invested heavily in freezing and cold storage facility to maintain quality of its chicken products.