Sri Lanka is the 13th nation to join International Tropical Fruits Network (TFNet) as country member. Country representative, Additional Secretary for Agricultural Technology, Ministry of Agriculture, Sri Lanka, Dr. DBT Wijeratne accepted the country membership certificate from TFNet Chairperson HE Datuk Mohd. Hashim Abdullah, during the TFNet Board of Trustees held in Ho Chi Minh City on 4 July 2013.
Sri Lanka is a thriving fruit paradise. Common tropical fruits grown in the country are banana, jackfruit, mango, papaya, guava, pomegranate, avocado, mangosteen, rambutan, cashew apple, starfruit, anonas, passion fruit, pineapple, sapodilla, and durian. Fruit exports include mango, mangosteen, rambutan and pineapple.
As in other tropical fruit growing developing countries, Sri Lanka, faces challenges in areas such as lack of efficient production technologies, fruit quality and safety attributes, postharvest losses, lack of smallholder involvement in the value chain, increasing diseases and pests incidences, and market access.
With TFNet providing a forum for member countries to interact and discuss issues encountered in developing the tropical fruit industry, it is hoped that experiences from other country members could be shared to understand and mitigate the challenges faced by Sri Lanka.
A joint TFNet / Ministry of Agriculture, Sri Lanka workshop has been planned for 2014, to deliberate and make recommendations to improve production, quality, smallholders integration in the fruit value chain and enhance market access of tropical fruits in Sri Lanka.