Fruits & Vegetables

Agriculture is the most common vocation of the Sri Lankans, and about eighty (80) different varieties of fruits and vegetables are grown in Sri Lanka’s varied agro-climatic areas.

Broadly, the climatically cool and salubrious condition in the hill country are ideal for temperate crops such as carrot, leek, cabbage, cauliflower, salad leaves, beet, bean, bell pepper, salad cucumber while the well demarcated low country and dry wet areas are suitable for a variety of tropical fruits and vegetables ranging from green chili, red onion, pumpkin, bitter gourd, melon, sweet and sour banana types, queen pineapple, papaya, mango, lemon and gherkins etc.  Certain endogenous yams colloquially named innala (Lecranthus) and kiri ala (Xanthasoma sagittifolium), underwater stems of kohila (Lasia spinosa) and nelum ala (Nymphea lotus) and fruits and pods of perennial crops such as bread fruit, young jack and murunga are foreign exchange spinners of the country.  It is the same with special flavoured Sri Lankan Pineapple, Mangosteen, Ripe jack, Avocado, Rambutan, star fruit and anoda.

Fruit and vegetables are mainly grown by the semi commercialized small farmers whose individual extent of land does not exceed a hectare.  Private sector involvement in commercial cultivation too has been encouraged by the Sri Lankan Government with support from “Contract growing” farmers.

Sri Lanka produces more than 800,000 metric tons of fruits and vegetables annually and exports both fresh and processed varieties to many destinations in the world.  90 per cent of the fresh product is targeted to the Middle East and the Maldives Island and almost about 98 per cent of the processed products to the European market.

Sri Lanka is being adjusting well to the stringent ISO 9000 series and to the Health and safety regulations stipulated by the European Community.  Tropical produce of Sri Lanka origin such as pineapple, rambutan, mangosteen, passion fruit etc are very popular among the nations in the world due to their unique characteristics such as flavour, smell,colour and taste.