Sri Lanka’s farmers and consumers are facing growing hardships due to inaccurate crop data and forecasts issued by the Department of Agriculture, Chairman of the National Farmers’ Union Anuradha Tennakoon said.
He said the Department’s Socio-Economic and Planning Centre publishes monthly crop forecasts predicting future shortages or surpluses of key food crops. However, Tennakoon alleged that these reports, uploaded on the Department’s official website, are “extremely false and baseless,” and have already contributed to policy errors — including the rice shortage seen earlier this year.
Tennakoon also dismissed the Department’s latest production cost report as inaccurate, claiming it relies on misleading figures. He said foreign-funded projects like CROPIX, designed to help farmers plan vegetable cultivation by predicting market demand, have also failed to deliver any real benefit.
“Because of high market prices, farmers cannot sell their vegetables, and unsold stocks are piling up. This is a huge waste of national resources,” he said.
He further noted that incorrect estimates for crops such as onions and potatoes have triggered needless imports, causing heavy losses for local growers who were already meeting domestic requirements.
Tennakoon urged the government to rely instead on trusted sources such as the Department of Census and Statistics and the Hector Kobbekaduwa Agricultural Research Institute when preparing agricultural data and policy decisions.
