Sri Lanka rice, coconut, fish, tea and rubber production fell in Jan-Feb: CB
Sri Lanka’s agricultural production in paddy, fish, coconut, tea and rubber declined in January-February, the central bank said.
“Paddy production for the 2024/2025 Maha season, based on the sown extent as of end January 2025, is forecasted at 2.61 million metric tons, a 4.2% decline from the previous Maha season,” the central bank said.
Paddy production for the 2024 Yala season was 1.98 million metric tons (8.8% increase from the previous Yala season) where total paddy production for the year 2024 was recorded as 4.7 million metric tons (4.1% increase from the previous year), the central bank data showed.
Meanwhile, fish production decreased by 15.1% in January 2025 from January 2024, and marginally increased by 1.0% in February 2025 from February 2024, largely driven by declines in inland fishing activities.
Domestic tea production decreased by 22.0% in February 2025 from February 2024, while global tea prices continued to decline, compared to the previous month, with only Mombasa reporting a slightly higher average price, while Colombo and Kolkata recorded lower average prices.
“Domestic tea production decreased by 22.0% (y-o-y) during the month of February 2025 mainly attributed to dry weather conditions.”
Coconut production, too, experienced a significant year on year decline of 31.6% in February 2025.
Domestic rubber production saw a year-on-year decline in February 2025, according to provisional data from the Rubber Development Department.
“Natural rubber prices in global markets experienced an increase in February 2025 due to challenges including adverse weather conditions that hindered output in key cultivation areas.”
Market prices of many export crops such as pepper, coffee, cocoa, cardamom and nutmeg experienced an increase in February 2025, while prices of cinnamon, clove, ginger and turmeric registered a decline.
“Earnings from exports of spices increased in the month of February 2025 (y-o-y), mainly due to the strong performance in exports of Pepper, Cinnamon and Cloves
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