Visiting Maldivian Minister asks for technical support from SL to develop agriculture

By Ifham Nizam

The government of the Maldives yesterday requested agricultural technical support from Sri Lanka.

Maldives Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Marine Affairs Hussain Rasheed Hassan, who is on an official visit said that the current government’s programme for the development of Sri Lanka’s agricultural sector had drawn the attention of the Maldivian government.

 Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Mahinda Amaraweera and Maldivian Minister Hussain Rasheed Hassan yesterday met at the Ministry of Agriculture in Battaramulla and they discussed cooperation in agriculture and fisheries between the two countries.

The Maldivian Minister, who drew attention to the plantations being carried out in Sri Lanka’s Net Houses, requested that the same technology be provided to the Maldives as well as the necessary technical support to train a group of their people here.

The visiting Minister said that Tourism and fishing industries in the Maldives are very high. “But it is difficult for us to do anything related to agriculture. There are no fresh water sources in the Maldives. Fresh water and drinking water required by Maldives are imported in full.” Therefore, the Maldives minister said that they cannot support agriculture, but they are asking for that support to be given to them.

 Amaraweera said that Sri Lanka’s fruits, vegetables and chicken meat as well as eggs are purchased by the Maldives. He also mentioned that there is a high international demand for the vegetables and fruits grown in our country due to Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) currently being followed by Sri Lanka in agriculture.

Here, the Minister of Maldives presented a parcel of Maldive fish produced using the country’s new technology to the minister of Agriculture.

Maldives now makes Maldive fish not according to the traditional method. High quality Maldives fish is produced by private sector companies.

The Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture Gunadasa Samarasinghe and several representatives from the Maldives participated in this event.