Development of Agribusiness Enterprises - Asian Productivity ...

Table 3. Production and Price Changes of Major Agricultural Items
Item Unit
Production
1998 1999
Percent Change
Production Price
Tea 000 mt 280 284 1 -14
Rubber 000 mt 96 97 1 -9
Coconuts Million nuts 2,552 2,808 10 12
Paddy 000 mt 2,692 2,868 7 18
Sugar 000 mt 61 65 7 -12
In 1999, export earnings from foliage plants and cut flowers amounted to SL Rs.573
million. Chilies, black gram, sesame and green gram production levels were lower than in
1998. The production of poultry and sugar also improved in 1999.
Other export crops include: (a) spices such as cloves, nutmeg and mace, pepper,
cardamoms; (b) commodities such as coffee, cocoa, sesame seeds, cashew kernels; and
(c) other agricultural products such as areca nuts, betel leaves and essential oils. Unprocessed
tobacco and pepper were also important items. In 1999, these commodities together
contributed 65 percent of the earnings from the export crop sector (Tables 4 and 5).
Table 4. Production of Other Export Crops
Crop 1997 1998
(Unit: mt)
a
1999 b
Coffee 2,165 2,343 2,422
Cocoa 1,709 1,904 1,538
Cinnamon quills 11,453 10,813 11,503
Cinnamon leaf oil 100 120 139
Pepper 2,912 3,776 4,557
Cloves 2,333 1,744 1,902
Cardamon 75 60 70
Nutmeg 1,108 1,257 1,335
Citronella 210 102 108
Source: Department of Agriculture.
Notes:
a b
Revised; and provisional.
Among other export agricultural crops, cinnamon accounts for the largest contribution
by a single crop. Sri Lanka is the largest producer of cinnamon in the world and contributes
about two-thirds of the total global production. About 90 percent of production is exported.
Currently, production of cinnamon leaf oil and citronella oil has increased, and exports
of small quantities of other varieties of essential oils from spices such as pepper, nutmeg,
mace, cardamom, mustard and cloves, are growing. The disaggregated export performance
is shown in Table 5. Approximately 7,000 mt of fresh and dried fruit, including tamarind,
were exported in 1999. The export value was SL Rs.476 million.
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