Many innovations have been introduced for Agriculture sector.

Introduction of many innovations made by various persons in the island for the advancement of Agriculture sector took place at the Ministry of Agriculture today (19) morning.

These innovations were introduced at a discussion headed by the Minister of Agriculture, Mahinda Amaraweera.

Amongst these innovations, Mr.Kasun Siriwardhana who is an Electrical Engineer and a young inventor introduced a new instrument which is capable of measuring the Electric Conductivity in the soil.

Mr.Siriwardhana said that this instrument could easily be used to measure the PH value and also the salinity in the soil and if such an instrument was imported from a foreign country, it would cost nearly Rs.90.000.

He also emphasized that this instrument could be made at a cost of around Rs. 6,000.

Moreover, an appliance, which is capable of keeping milk taken from dairy cattle during evening milking without spoiling for a period of 24 hours, was introduced on this occasion. Currently, certain farmers, who are engaged in livestock industry in our country, practise only morning milking due to lack of proper cooling facilities to preserve milk. These inventors pointed out that evening milking would increase the milk yield which can be taken during the morning milking.

Since Triple Super Phosphate (mud fertilizer) is not currently available in Sri Lanka to apply for paddy fields a new type of fertilizer was produced using Eppawala Phosphate which is capable of strengthening the fibrous root system of paddy plants. The said fertilizer type was also introduced on this occasion.

In addition to that, new types of sweets produced using rice flour were also introduced to the Minister.

Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Amaraweera expressed his views on this occasion.

We should accept that Agriculture sector of our country has collapsed. More than Rs.73,000 million has been spent to import rice from foreign countries from January to 31 September this year. At present, we are unable to produce at least 40% of the total milk requirement of this country. We import a large amount from overseas. The total requirement of chilli for our country is 55,000 metric tons. However, 50,000 metric tons of chilli is imported in every year.

In this backdrop, introduction of innovations is a strength to this country. I wish to conduct an awarding ceremony in the next year with the participation of His Excellency the President to promote innovations in Agriculture sector. There are a large number of inventors in our country. They create innovations even without any support from others. Therefore, I will take steps to initiate a new programme to encourage such inventors, the Minister said.

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