President wants cocoa planted on tea estates

The government was considering leasing state-owned plantations to Sri Lankan companies or Sri Lankan companies with foreign shareholders for the development of the food industry including confectionery, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said addressing the 30th Annual General Meeting of the Lanka Confectionery Manufacturers’ Association (LCMA) on Wednesday night (24).

He said that the confectionery industry must explore intercropping with cocoa and that state plantations in Matale, Kandy, Mawathagama, and Dodangaslanda can be used for the purpose.

President Wickremesinghe said that they are in discussions with the governments of Ghana and Ivory Coast to buy cocoa for Sri Lanka confectionery manufacturers.

“Virtually all the lands owned by Chilaw and Kurunegala plantation, plus Elkaduwa with JEDB and SPC,” can be used for intercropping with cocoa, he said.

President Wickremesinghe pledged government support, including eight billion rupees for research and development, to foster a thriving confectionery industry. He urged the industry to collaborate, innovate and expand into various areas of the food industry positioning it as a “low hanging fruit” for economic growth.