SL’s coffee cultivation to be revived
Sri Lanka’s coffee cultivation is to be revived considering it as one of the major plantation crop, the Agriculture Ministry said.
Coffee-growing area is expected to increase by 400 more hectares under the new programme initiated by the ministry next year, Minister Mahinda Amaraweera disclosed.
Sri Lanka’s existing coffee-plantation area is expected to increase by 1,000 ha by 2025 under the revival programme. Some 80 per cent of total coffee production comes from smallholder farmers. A sum of Rs.400 million will be disbursed from the 2024 budgetary allocation to cultivate coffee providing financial facility of Rs.1 million per hectare per smallholder farmer, he said, adding that 50 per cent of this loan facility will not be recovered from them, being a concession to farmers.
This decision has been taken by considering the high demand for coffee beans in the export market, Minister Amaraweera revealed.
In 2023, the approximate wholesale price range for Sri Lanka coffee was between US$1.65 and $5.64 per kilogram or between $0.75 and $2.56 per pound.
Sri Lanka’s coffee cultivation covers 4,787 ha at present, according to Department of Export Agriculture (DEA)s statistics.
Coffee exports have increased to 50.56 metric tonnes in 2022 from 30.47 mt. in 2021. Major buyers of Sri Lankan coffee are Australia, UAE, the US, Maldives, New Zealand, Chile, UK and Germany.
Sri Lanka presently cultivates Arabica, Canephora, Liberica and the country’s favourable geographical conditions, and the high-altitude central highlands have set the stage for a resurgence in farming of these crops.
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