Govt. discusses measures to resolve poultry, egg industry issues

A discussion regarding the import of maize to be used for the production of poultry feed was held on Wednesday at the Presidential Secretariat under the patronage of the Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera and the Senior Adviser to the President on National Security and Chief of Presidential Staff Sagala Ratnayake.

During the meeting special emphasis was placed on regulating the poultry and egg industry to ensure uninterrupted supply of poultry and eggs to consumers at a reasonable rate. 

The Ministry of Agriculture officials were instructed by Ratnayake to determine the quantity of locally produced maize used for animal feed, estimate the future production, and create a report on the amount of maize that would require importation.

He also said that the report will be submitted to President Ranil Wickremesinghe as soon as possible.

The production of maize used as animal feed and its pricing were extensively reviewed, and Ratnayake assured that the licences necessary to import the yearly maize requirement would be issued immediately.

It was also pointed out that by importing maize when the price of maize in the world market is low, the domestic maize supply could be met without a crisis.Additionally, as the current local rice production surpassed the immediate need for rice, discussions were held regarding the possibility of using some of the surplus rice as animal feed, which prompted a consideration of relaxing the Government-imposed restrictions on the use of rice for this purpose.

In light of this, Sagala Ratnayake instructed officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Trade to conduct a thorough analysis of the nation’s rice consumption needs and current rice production, determine the surplus rice reserves, and promptly deliver a report.

He emphasised that utilising excess rice reserves for animal feed could stabilise rice prices for farmers and lessen the requirement for maize imports, resulting in savings on foreign exchange expenditures.

 Adviser to the President on Food Security Dr. Suren Batagoda, Trade Ministry Secretary A.M.P.M.B. Atapattu, Senior officials of line Institutions of the Ministries, Ministry of Agriculture, Finance and the representatives of Poultry and Egg Producers’ Associations participated in the discussion.