Yalpanam Dairy, Kilinochchi, Launched by BoC & Cargills. Project Creates New Opportunities in Northern Sri Lanka

19th January 2012, www.dailynews.lk, By Sanjeevi Jayasuriya

The Yalpanam Dairy Ltd, a joint venture between the Bank of Ceylon (BoC) and Cargills Ltd was launched yesterday.

Chief guest of the event Central Bank Governor, Ajith Nivard Cabraal said that projects of this nature should be encouraged as they would help to breach regional disparities. He also said that these projects would help conflict areas to return to normalcy sooner than expected.

He also said that these projects create new opportunities and also help people to obtain gainful employment The joint venture will first function as a milk collection centre and it would soon be upgraded to a processing plant.


One of the biggest advantages of this project is that the supply and demand situation is equally met with adequate supply of fresh milk and a readymade market being created through Cargills outlets.

Bank of Ceylon Chairman Dr. Gamini Wickramasinghe said that they are now planning to expand this project and is looking at importing a ship load of milch cows from India to be given to farmers in the area in a bid to increase capacity.

"We are also looking at promoting organic farming in the area," he added.

Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal and BoC Chairman Dr Gamini Wickramasinghe hand over a cow to a dairy farmer in Killinochchi at the foundation laying ceremony of the Yalpanam Dairy Industry. Image Courtesy : www.island.lk, Pic By Sajith Jayasekara.

CIC Agri Business Grows Grapes in Kilinochchi to supply Sri Lanka's growing Demand of Wine & Grapes

27th February 2011, www.sundayobserver.lk, By Shirajiv Sirimane

For the first time in Sri Lanka a plant will be built to process wine. In a bid to usher economic benefits to the North-East this plant will be built in Kilinochchi.

CIC Agribusiness would set up this plant and would also grow grapes on 50 acres.

CEO, National Agriculture development (CIC) Keerthi B. Kotagama told the Sunday Observer that they would invest over Rs. 300 million on this project.

He said that the feasibility studies of this project have now being completed. We are also hoping to have a 200 outgrowers for this venture, he said.

Hybrid grape seeds would be imported from Israel and would be distributed to outgrowers while the machinery would be from Europe.

Sri Lanka imports over 90 percent of its grapes mainly from Australia and India and nearly 99 percent of wines. Today a imported kilogram of grapes is priced around Rs. 1,200 while a bottle of wine is over Rs. 2,000.

He said that when this project is launched they could provide red and white wines and grapes less than 75 percent of the current prices.

He said that wine is also considered a health drink and with the 2.5 million tourists expected to visit the country in the future there would be a good demand for these products.

We also hope to export to the Maldives.

Kotagama said that they would provide grape seeds and the technical know-how to their outgrowers and in turn would buy the grapes at a guaranteed price.

He said that the outgrowers concept would also be introduced to the milk processing unit that would be opened in April in Dambulla. The total investment on this project is Rs. 380 million.

The USAID program will also assist this project by setting up 4,000 outgrowers network. They have invested Rs. 400 million and have provided cattle and the technical know-how.

The 4,000 framers from Trincomale, Ampara and the Batticaloa areas would be incorporated in to four farmers' associations to collect milk more efficiently.

We are expecting 5,000 litres per day from each Association.

He said that they would manufacture fresh milk, Yoghurt, butter and flavoured milk and their target market would be the North East. With the ending of the terrorism we see a demand. We have observed that the residents in the North East are more quality conscious.

They look for high quality and hygienic products and we want to cater to this market, he said.

Related Info :

• USAID Funds Dairy Project in East, Sri Lanka, With Support from Land O’Lakes and CIC Agribusiness

6,000 Farmers to Benefit by Rehabilitation of Largest Tank in Northern Sri Lanka

06th March 2010, www.dailynews.lk, By Anura Maitipe

The Northern Re-awakening Project has taken initiatives to rehabilitate Iranamadu Tank at a cost of Rs. 200 million with World Bank assistance to provide irrigation facilities to resettled families in the Kilinochchi district, Project Director PH Sugathadasa said.

The tank located in the Northern part of the district is the main irrigation tank in the province.

earlier it had provided irrigation facilities to over 8,000 hectares under gravity irrigation and another 455 hectares under lift irrigation system.

However, the war situation had caused severe damage to this tank. As a result the cultivatable land extent of this tank has reduced from 8,455 to 3,000 hectares, he said. This tank originally built by the Dutch with a capacity of 49 million cubic meters of water (MCM) was taken over by the Irrigation Department. The Department has increased the tank capacity to 131 MCM in three stages, he added.

The rehabilitation work will commence soon.

Over 6,000 farmer families in Kilinochchi will benefit. It will also be a permanent solution for the drinking water problem of the Jaffna Peninsula, he noted.

Light to Life Builds Kilinochchi Vocational Training Institute, Heavy Weights Behind the CSR Program

25th November 2009, www.dailymirror.lk

Light to Life is a project by Rotary International District 3220 Sri Lanka, in partnership with JWT & Mindshare Colombo. It is endorsed by the Vocational Training Authority of Sri Lanka, and aims to build a vocational training institute in Kilinochchi to provide youth in war torn areas with a future through learning.

Since its launch on the 7th of October donations have been pouring in from all over the world particularly from Australia, Canada, UK and the US. Individual donations from little as 1US$ up to US$2,500 are being logged on the website www.lighttolife.lk.

Commenting on the success of the project Ms. Shivi Jayasinghe project Chairperson for the campaign said that the advertising campaign is touching people even in rural Sri Lanka and we receive money orders from villages ranging from Rs500 to even an on-line donation of US$100 from Pilliyandala.

The Light to Life project will erect a spectacular Christmas tree in one of Sri Lanka's premier shopping malls, Crescat Boulevard, from the 1st to the 25th of December. This tree will be a physical representation of a cyber tree that is taking shape through donations at www.lighttolife.lk. The tree has 24 layers and a star to correspond with the 1st 25 days of the month of December. Each layer is worth Rs. 1 million and companies are invited to initially commit a sum of Rs. 250,000, and thereafter encourage their employees, dealers and business partners to contribute the balance Rs. 750,000. So far Dialog, GSK and MAS and JWT Asia Pacific have committed Rs 1 million towards the project.

If the daily target is not met these four entities will step in to underwrite the value up to 1 million each.

Mr. Thayalan Bartlett - Chief Executive Officer of JWT Sri Lanka said, "This is not JWT's Corporate Social Responsibility programme but in fact a CSR programme which we call 'Community Social Responsibility', which gives people and companies worldwide the opportunity to be stakeholders in an initiative. As a corporate policy, JWT actively works for communities it engages with everyday on behalf of its clients' brands. We are of the fervent belief that building a strong and independent community promotes social progression and builds sustainable markets for brands and companies to coexist. We want to make our contribution to a new Sri Lanka."