China to enhance agricultural cooperation with Sri Lanka

Friday, 22 March 2019 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China Dr. Qu Dongyu met with the Ambassador of Sri Lanka Dr. Karunasena Kodituwakku at the Sri Lanka Embassy Beijing recently with a view to enhancing cooperation with Sri Lanka in the field of agriculture.

The Vice Minister appreciated the uninterrupted friendship between Sri Lanka and China and stated that the Rubber-Rice pact in 1952 was the milestone, which paved way for the flourishing Sri Lanka-China relations.

During the cordial discussion, Ambassador Kodituwakku expressed Sri Lanka’s willingness to establish cooperation with China in the field of food technology, especially in preserving fruits and vegetables. Accepting the suggestion by the Ambassador, the Minister agreed to provide training opportunities for Sri Lankan officials since there are a number of training institutes in China in the agricultural field, including the Academy, established specially for tropical crops in Hainan province.

During the discussion, China’s willingness to exchange modern techniques, knowledge and experience with Sri Lanka in the areas of market driven agriculture extension, increasing rice production by introducing ‘Ratoon Rice Crop Technology’ in which the Chinese farmers obtain the harvest twice from a single cultivation without planting paddy twice, reduction of post-harvest losses for tropical fruits and vegetables and crop diversification with animal husbandry including inland water fish rearing in paddy fields, duck rearing in paddy fields and other organic agricultural techniques followed by Chinese farmers, was expressed.

The Ambassador agreed to send those proposals to relevant ministries and agencies in Sri Lanka, and to arrange visits to Sri Lankan officials to study these methods, particularly to obtain a second harvest from the single cultivation and market driven agricultural extension services. The Vice Minister assured to support to implement those proposals.