Crysbro strengthens Sri Lanka’s food security agenda with seed paddy production
View(s):Sri Lanka’s leading poultry producer Crysbro recently initiated operations on seed paddy production in a bid to elevate the local rice production capacity. Spread across a 1000-acre stretch of land in Kantale’s Suriyapura Village, Crysbro’s operations are supported by a state-of-the-art laboratory and technical facility set on the company’s farm in Kantale, the company announced on Tuesday.
At Crysbro's seed paddy farm in Suriyapura Village, Kantale.
At present, Crysbro produces BG352, BG358, BG366, BW367 and BG300 varieties of seed paddy. With prime focus on soil and water conservation, this mega project is operated in a strictly eco-friendly fashion.
“At the time of Crysbro’s massive investment in Kantale’s Suriyapura village, most of its residents did not have a permanent source of income and crop cultivation was limited to just one season of cultivation during the availability of rain water. However, Crysbro brought the village to life with the introduction of seed paddy production which brought employment opportunities and a steady source of income for most of the village’s residents,” said Crysbro Senior Marketing Manager Amores Sellar.
Although Sri Lanka is self-sufficient in rice, the high cost of seed paddy is currently forcing a number of farmers to move away from paddy cultivation to other, more viable crops. It was this realisation that inspired Crysbro to produce and provide seed paddy to these farming communities at concessionary prices, in a bid to strengthen the country’s rice production and thereby its food security.
“Among the numerous other effects of the COVID-19 epidemic, was its hit on the food supply chain in the country. With the deep shortage of imported food items, people were forced to rely solely on local produce. This unforeseen crisis has inadvertently shed light on a looming problem of food security and has presented us with an opportunity to enforce Crysbro’s deep commitment to this cause by focusing our efforts on securing local rice production through seed paddy production, he added.
Crysbro is currently cultivating rice and maize on a large scale, benefiting more than 10,000 farming families in the Mahiyanganaya, Moneragala and Anuradhapura districts. Suriyapura, a village inhabited by people directly and deeply affected by the 30-year long civil war, has made great strides economically and socially with Crysbro’s many initiatives and investment in this region.
Established in 1972 with just 100 chicks and a deep desire to be a market leader in quality and innovation, Crysbro has emerged as Sri Lanka’s first and most sophisticated, fully vertically-integrated poultry producer. Its operations span grandparent and parent farms, hatcheries, broiler farms and feed mills. This thriving ‘Farm-to-Fork’ concept has formed the core of its success. In turn, it has yielded unprecedented benefit for numerous stakeholders including direct and indirect employees, outgrowers, domestic maize farmers and ultimately Sri Lankan consumers.