The Ministry of Agriculture has commenced a project for the preservation of the surplus harvest of fruits and vegetables by dehydration during the harvesting seasons.
Several dehydrator machines have already been imported from China and more machines will be imported from countries like Germany, to be installed in areas in which fruits and vegetables are most commonly cultivated, says the Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Amaraweera.
Loan schemes will be provided to the farmers, who import these dehydrator machines, under the “Enterprise Sri Lanka” Credit Program, said the Minister at a press conference yesterday (05).
He further stated that the Ministry is implementing methods to dehydrate fruits (banana, mango, guava, papaw, etc.) and certain vegetables for sale, to cut down the wastage of surplus harvest.
Several thousands of millions have been disbursed to import maize, grapes, cashew nuts, ginger, turmeric, finger millet and honey in 2017. Hence the Ministry plans to cultivate the aforementioned in zones, within the country.
