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UNDP awaits hybrid seed corn cargo in October for farmers
View(s):By Kapila Bandara
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is funding the purchase of 200 metric tonnes (200,000 kilos), the UN agency said.
UNDP Officer-in-Charge in Sri Lanka Malin Herwig, told the Sunday Times: “The UNDP will aim to bring down the shipment for distribution to farmers by 30th of October. The procurement process is currently ongoing and is managed by UNDP, while JICA has made the monetary contribution of US$1.4 million (Rs 506.8 million).’’
“The supply chain of livestock and food production is affected by shortage of maize seeds, affecting the availability and affordability of some essential food items, and giving rise to nutritional concerns, which we hope to resolve through the JICA’s collaborative assistance with UNDP,” Yamada Tetsuya, chief representative of JICA Sri Lanka, said in a statement.
The Agriculture Ministry and Agriculture Department have for years failed to increase seed corn and corn production.
The UNDP shipment will form a significant portion of seed corn (also called maize) requirements of Sri Lanka, now confronting hunger and severe malnutrition among children below five years old, and pregnant women, despite denials by Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) politicians and the Health Ministry.
Only about 50% of the seed corn requirement is available to supplement cultivation in the Maha season, the UNDP said.
Seed corn is essential to increase production of the crop vital for Thriposha and Samaposha, abandoned by the discredited Rajapaksa regime, but now revived by UN agencies, the United States, and foreign donors. Corn is also the biggest raw material in the livestock feed industry.
“The maize F1 hybrid variety will be procured through this intervention,’’ Ms Herwig said. She was referring to first-generation hybrid seed corn.
“The UNDP will hand over the total consignment to the Agriculture Department, after which it will distribute the seeds to selected farmers on a free of charge basis,’’ she said. The UNDP has been a key development partner of choice of Sri Lanka since 1967.
For decades, the Agriculture Department and the Agriculture Ministry, which until a few months ago, was under Mahindananda Aluthgamage, has failed to produce the national seed corn requirement. The ministry vision claims, “A vibrant and dynamic agricultural sector for food security and national prosperity’’.
In 2020, Shasheendra Rajapaksa was state minister of promoting the production and regulating the supply of organic fertiliser, and paddy and grains, organic foods, vegetables, fruits, chilies, onion and potato cultivation and promotion, seed production and advanced technology agriculture. Corn imports were banned in 2020, during the tenure of Agriculture Department Director Ajantha de Silva.
During Mr. Aluthgamage’s tenure, Rs 33.9 million was spent for seed corn production on 100 acres. The output was a mere 40,000 kilos of seed in 2021. In comparison, Rs 40.7m was allocated to Mr. Aluthgamage’s staff.
In 2021, the Agriculture Department sold 92,159 kilos of seed corn. The National Auditor found that at Rahangala Seed Production Farm, 3,926 kilos of corn and other cereals worth Rs. 780,420 were destroyed by pests, and 1,591 kilos of hybrid corn worth Rs 1.27 million in the seed potato stores at Seetha Eliya had been rejected after being stocked for ten months.
Records show that 99% of hybrid seed corn is imported. Corn production in 2019 was 351,000 tonnes, compared with 290,000 tonnes in 2000, still not enough to meet demand.
Corn production from 2015 to 2017 was 261,00 MT; 244,000 MT, and 196,000 MT, official records show. Sri Lanka’s annual need for corn is estimated at 600,000 MT, while production is 250,000 MT. The livestock feed industry needs about 400,000 MT and 200,000 MT is needed as cattle feed.
In the 2021 cropping season ended September, the corn output is estimated at a record 496,400 tonnes, according to Food and Agriculture Organisation data.
| UN agencies deliver vital and essential meds A stock of vital and essential medicines and medical supplies were purchased by the United Nations Development Programme in Sri Lanka to help overcome continuing grave shortages the Government has not been able to overcome amid allegations of corruption in officialdom and at the pharma regulator, threatening lives. The UNDP is partnering with the World Health Organisation in Sri Lanka with funds from the United Nations’ Central Emergency Response Fund. Some pharmaceuticals are now unaffordable and not available. For example, iron tablets, essential for women and children, are not available in Bandarawela. The medicines and medical supplies were handed over to the Health Ministry this week by UN Resident Coordinator Hanaa Singer-Hamdy, UNDP Officer-in-Charge Malin Herwig, and WHO representative Alaka Singh. In a statement, Ms Singer-Hamdy said: “Working in close coordination as outlined in the Humanitarian Needs and Priorities Plan through WHO-led efforts and capitalising on UNDP’s global procurement network, the UN will continue to support and create lasting impacts on lives and livelihoods.” | |
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