Ask the Minister: Matters of Public Interest 

A chat with Daya Gamage, Minister of Primary Industries 

Some of our readers will be very interested in getting to know the progress of the present government and the future plans of the Ministers. With the endeavour of creating awareness in this regard, Daily Mirror Life met up with some Ministers and asked them a few questions. Their answers will be carried in this weekly column. This week, we speak to Daya Gamage, Minister of Primary Industries. 

Primary Industries, what is the scope of this Ministry and what does it include? 

To explain in brief, this Ministry focusses on adding value to exports and developing the export market. The present Government hopes to increase the export revenue up to US$ 25 billion that is to double it by 2020. This is not an easy task, but if we look at countries like Thailand, Bangladesh and Vietnam, these countries doubled their export turn over within 5 years. This is what the Ministry of Primary Industries is trying to do. 

What about export-oriented agriculture? 

The Export Agriculture Department is under my Ministry. Of the 23 Agriculture zones we will be setting up, Galle, Ampara, Kilinochchi, Matale and Kurunegala will come up by the beginning of next year. We are starting a project with the World Bank before the end of this year, where we hope to give a matching grant. That is, when someone invests a certain amount in a project which we think it is viable, then we give them the same amount as they are investing, as a grant thereby doubling his original investment amount. In addition we will help him to get more finances from banks as well. 

Who takes decisions regarding these investors? 

There is a separate team for that. They will check on the project, evaluate it and only if it is going to benefit the country will approval be given. There are various guide lines that have to be followed. 

What is the situation with spices? 

The cinnamon produced in Sri Lanka is the best you get in the market. If you take China what they have is Cassia which is equivalent to cinnamon and smells similar but does not have the same properties. So it does not have the medicinal value that the cinnamon grown in Sri Lanka has. Our cinnamon has properties that bring down the blood sugar levels and it has many other medical benefits. Cinnamon and ginger together is supposed to be very good for cancer. We have not marketed these things properly. We export the rolled cinnamon to countries like Mexico and India, and it is in those countries that the value addition such as making cinnamon oil takes place. We can extract a lot more than we do at present from the leaf also.  Another example is our ginger. Everyone likes our ginger beer. If we get the ginger from China and make ginger beer the flavour will not be the same. This special flavour comes from our soil. So this is the kind of value addition we will be doing. There is a lot we can do with spices and we are in the process of adding value to this sector. 

Where do we stand in terms of fisheries and aqua culture? 

It’s a sad reality that we have the sea right around us but we import fish. Now we have got the GSP+ concession which opened up a $550 million market in Europe but our production is not enough for the demand. When you take the global average of fish production, aqua culture is at 47% while the ocean catch or the wild catch is 53%.  Our percentage in aqua culture is only 17% even though we have so many tanks. With the 10 Fisheries Zones that will be coming up soon we hope to increase value addition to this sector. The first of these zones is coming up around Mannar and Kalpitiya and the second one at Oluvil. 

What are the other industries that you hope to do value additions to? 

Just to mention a few and explain in brief, when it comes to milk production, at present we import 70% of the milk that’s in the market. We take only an average 1 ½ litres of milk from a cow when we can actually take 10 - 12 litres. If these cows are given proper nutritious food they will produce more milk. Our cows look for whatever grass they can find and eat it. This is not enough for productivity. The treasury has given approval for us to get down 15,000 cows to start a breeding process here. This way we can improve our production. 

When it comes to the sugar industry, if we can grow 65000 Hectares of sugar cane, we can produce the full amount of sugar required for the consumption of the country. At present we produce only 8% of the required quantity. Not only sugar production, we can also generate approximately 300 megawatts of power through this industry. If you take the gem industry, instead of sending only the gem stones abroad, we should export jewellery made with these gems. This will bring in a lot more revenue. So we need to improve the jewelley industry. 

We have to do some value addition in the coconut industry as well. Coconut water and king coconut water is very popular in foreign countries but in our households it is just thrown away. If we bottle it we can use it as a drink and even as saline. Another area we are looking at is, extracting coconut milk mechanically as you can get five times more milk with this method than when it’s done manually. Then we can make more coconut oil which is in high demand all over the world. There’s a lot we are doing in terms of value addition with tea, fruits and bees' honey also. 

What about textiles? 

We will be regaining the GSP+ concession we had lost by April 2017. Our President and Prime Minister have had many discussion with the necessary officials and have got this going. Then our garment industry will open up. If we can manufacture our own fabric also, we can generate a larger income. On my recent to visit to Turkey and Iraq, I requested for a consultant on these matters to come and work with our people. We will tie up with them for manufacturing the textiles as well. 

How can technology be used to improve economic efficiency? 

Greenhouse technology has been introduced now. Although we can get the equipment from China, I hope to get the expertise and technology from Israel as they have the world’s best greenhouse technology. 

What new measures have been taken to protect the smallholders? 

Small holders will be joined up with big businessmen. The small holders will produce the goods and the business person will be providing the market for these goods. It will be an arrangement where both parties benefit. 

What about the development work done in your electorate Ampara? 

We are in the process of revamping the railway line which is at present going up to Batticaloa, to join up to Kalmunai and Polonnaruwa. Then we can bring our products to Colombo at a lower cost. Generally Ampara people’s income has been mainly from paddy fields. We are diversifying this and introducing milk production, bee culture, pepper, cinnamon etc., so that there will be more opportunities for the people. We are also developing the fisheries industry in the East as it’s a good livelihood. 

Did you know? 

• In 2005, Daya Constructions was the largest local construction company. 
• His son and daughter run all his businesses. 
• His goal is to commit ten years of his life to serve the country.