Sri Lanka partners with Brazil to strengthen sugarcane industry and reduce sugar imports
Sri Lanka approved a 36-month cooperation project with Brazil to modernise its sugarcane sector, improve yields and reduce sugar import dependence. The initiative focuses on technology transfer, farmer training, value addition and institutional strengthening using Brazil’s expertise in sugar and ethanol production.
Sri Lanka has approved a new international cooperation project with Brazil aimed at modernising its sugarcane sector, boosting domestic sugar production and reducing the country’s heavy dependence on imported sugar.
The initiative will be implemented jointly by the Ministry of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development, the Sugarcane Research Institute and the National Science Foundation in partnership with the Brazilian Cooperation Agency and the Federal University of São Carlos, Newswire reported.
Sri Lankan authorities said the project was designed to address long-standing challenges facing the country’s sugarcane industry by leveraging Brazil’s extensive expertise in sugarcane cultivation, sugar production and value-added processing.
Currently, Sri Lanka imports nearly 90 percent of its sugar requirements, resulting in substantial foreign exchange outflows. The government hopes the new collaboration will help increase domestic sugarcane yields and expand local sugar production, reducing reliance on imports over the long term.
The programme will focus on technology transfer, technical training and knowledge-sharing initiatives aimed at improving the skills and capabilities of farmers, researchers and industry stakeholders. It will also promote value addition within the sugar sector and encourage more efficient utilisation of by-products generated during sugar production.
Officials said the project will help strengthen institutional capacity across the sugar value chain while introducing best practices from Brazil, one of the world’s largest sugar and ethanol producers.
The initiative has received Cabinet approval and will be implemented over a 36-month period under the framework of the technical cooperation agreement signed between Sri Lanka and Brazil in 2008.
The collaboration is expected to support Sri Lanka’s broader efforts to improve agricultural productivity, enhance food security and develop a more competitive and self-reliant sugar industry.
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Source : ChiniMandi
