Minister requests KOICA to resume training courses

Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera requested the South Korean Ambassador to Sri Lanka Miyon Lee to restart the programme of providing training courses for the officers and scientists of the agriculture sector in Sri Lanka under the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).

The South Korean Ambassador recently met with the Agriculture Minister and Ministry officials and discussed the future development of the agriculture sector.

He discussed a number of issues such as increasing paddy yields, using chemical fertilizers and organic fertilizers, using genetic technology to produce hybrid seeds, using new technology for agriculture and training for officials in the agricultural sector in South Korea and Sri Lanka.

The Minister also said that a few years ago advanced agricultural training was given to officials and scientists of our country under KOICA programme and he requested the ambassador to support the resumption of that programme which is currently suspended.

The ambassador gave a positive response and mentioned that she would forward the request to the Korean Government.

Explaining the use of fertilizers, the ambassador said that South Korea uses both chemical fertilizers and organic fertilizers to obtain high yields, and that South Korean farmers are well-trained for that. She also said that in order to obtain high yields from other crops including paddy, superior results can be obtained by using both chemical and organic fertilizers.

Commenting on a question raised by the ambassador regarding the development of Sri Lanka’s livestock sector, Minister Amaraweera said that although our country is self-sufficient in poultry and egg production until 2020, due to the economic crisis and the COVID pandemic that has affected the country in the last two years, there has been some disruption in those industries.

The Minister also mentioned that the poultry and egg production industry is now on the rise again, and by April next year, there will be a big growth in the poultry industry sector.

Agriculture Ministry Secretary Gunadasa Samarasinghe and other officials participated.

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