Sri Lanka: Bid to improve safety and quality of fruits, vegetables
The project is a unique private-public partnership initiated by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) in partnership with the Department of Agriculture (DOA) to improve the safety and quality of Sri Lankan fruits and vegetables. Funding for the project was organized through the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in collaboration with the International Trade Commission (ITC) while the counterpart funding is channelled from the DOA and the CCC. Other main stakeholders include the Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka Standards institute (SLSI), Lanka Fruits and Vegetable Producers Processors Exporters Association (LFVPPEA), the National Agribusiness Council (NAC) and the fruit and vegetable growing farmers.
All fruits and vegetables should conform to international food safety standards to be eligible to be exported to Europe, US, Australia and ASEAN markets. Therefore, exposing and training the local farmers to attain these standards will give them an opportunity to earn a better income and be competitive in a globalised economy.
The project is planning to train quarantine officers with the help of local and international experts on International and European Union Market Phytosanitary standards, Pest Surveillance, Plant Quarantine and International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) training on Pest Risk Analysis. These quarantine officers will train the field level quarantine officers. The project is also planning to train a large number of master trainers from the Department of Agriculture and Provincial Department of Agriculture on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), Post harvest handling, Phytosanitary and safety standards, Pest and Disease Management and other relevant subjects. These master trainers will train another 50 field level trainers. The field level trainers will train 150 field level extension agents who in turn will impart this knowledge to 400 selected farmers.
Project will also conduct workshops to train Public Health Inspectors, Exporters and Processors.
Source: lbt.lk
