Annual Report 2010 - Ministry of Finance and Planning

Ministry of Finance and Planning Sri Lanka > Annual Report 2010the Health Services Officer. The programme will beimplemented in three phases i.e. (i) agriculture, (ii)industries and (iii) fisheries and livestock. The householdswill be given the option of deciding a particular phasethat they wish to be engaged in the programme.to the implementation problems faced by the peoplehas also been launched by the Ministry of EconomicDevelopment, the implementing body of the programme.About 20 other ministries will also be involved assupporting partners in implementing this programme.The programme initially commenced with the Phase I, i.e.Agriculture, considering the strong need for cultivatingfruits and vegetables. Accordingly, a “Divi Neguma”recipient can select various types of seeds for cultivationdepending on his area of residency; 12 types for lowcountry, 6 types for wet zone and 3 types for up country.The government will also provide technical and otherassistance to initiate scientific cultivation at a small scalewith organic agriculture being emphasized. The secondand third phases will be commenced with a time lag.A programme to supervise the implementation of the DiviNeguma programme, provide advice and find solutionsIn the context of meeting the objectives of thisinnovation, the Divi Neguma programme is based onthe concept “People Initiate; Government Facilitate”thus limiting the role of government in home economydevelopment programme.Therefore, the success of this programme will depend onthe partnership between the people and the government.The successful completion of this programme will leadto create an international example of dealing with foodcrises effectively in the midst of climate change and otheradversaries that affect the global food security.LivestockThe livestock sector is an integral partof the agricultural economy of Sri Lankaand it plays a dominant role in foodsecurity, poverty reduction, livelihooddevelopment and reduction of undernutrition.The livestock sector whichmainly consists of the dairy and poultrysub sectors considered as one of thehigh priority areas for future growthand investment. The contribution of thelivestock sector to the national GDP in2010 was 0.8 percent. The governmentis planing to increase this significantly.The main policy objective of thelivestock sector is to achieve a higherlevel of self - reliance in milk andlivestock production which will bemade available to consumers at anaffordable price for improving theirnutrition status and tapping sectorpotential in generating employment.The livestock policy encourages theprivate sector to engage in commercialoperations while public sectorinvestment will gradually be directedto regulatory activities, research andextension services which are the areaswhere returns on investment are notattractive to the private sector but areessential to the development of theindustry.Total milk production in the countryhas been increased by 6 percent to247.5 million litres in 2010 from thelevel of 233.3 million litres in 2009This includes 191.9 million litres ofcow milk and 55.6 million litres ofbuffalo milk. In 2010, 35 percent ofnational requirement was met bythe local production. The averagefarm gate price of milk had beenaround Rs.33.20 per litre duringthe year 2010 showing a 10 percentincrease compared with the pricein 2009. Various state supporteddairy development programmesimplemented in the country havecontributed to this growth in thedairy industry (Table 1.38). Import ofmilk and milk products at 72,426 MT(CIF value: Rs 27.93 billion) in 2010indicated an increase of 16 percentwhen compared with the volume of62,375 MT (CIF value: Rs 18.05 billion)in 2009 reflecting a substantialincrease of consumer demand.Poultry meat production hasincreased by 5 percent from the levelof 99,280 MT in 2009 to 104,160 MTin 2010 mainly due to the importationof broiler parent stock and prevailinggood health conditions in poultryfarms. The egg production in 2010showed a slight decrease of 0.2percent, from the level of 1,142million in 2009. Farm gate price oflive broiler and table eggs recordedhigh prices towards the latterpart of the year and were in shortsupply during the festive season ofDecember 2010.The cost of production of chickenmeat and eggs has increased dueto the high feed prices, as maizeprices rose due to the shortageof supply in 2009 Yala season. Asprices of chicken meat and eggsincreased substantially and aroundten million eggs and 500 MT ofchicken meat were imported by“Lak Sathosa” in December 2010and January 2011 to stabilize theprices.Out of the total governmentinvestment of about Rs. 5.7 billionmade in the Livestock sector during2006-2010 period, Rs. 3.8 billion hasbeen spent as capital expenditure.In comparison with 2006, capitalexpenditure of this sector hasincreased by 56 percent in 2010. Thefinancing pattern of the Livestocksector are shown in the Figure 1.44.and table 1.39 respectively.99