A total of 515 coconut growers in the Mullaitivu District have received Rs. 22.7 million in subsidies, along with 3,000 coconut saplings, under the government’s “Northern Coconut Triangle” programme. The assistance was provided yesterday (08) in Mulliyawala, Mullaitivu, as part of the “Kapturu Sawiya” transformational programme implemented by the Coconut Cultivation Board under the Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure. Of the beneficiaries, 443 growers received subsidy cheques to establish irrigation systems on their coconut lands, while another 72 growers received assistance under a special coconut land rehabilitation subsidy programme. Around 3,000 coconut saplings were also distributed to growers to further expand coconut cultivation in the Northern Province. The Northern Coconut Triangle programme covers all five districts of the Northern Province — Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Mannar and Vavuniya — connecting Point Pedro, Silavathurai and Kokkilai. Launched last year, the programme aims to expand coconut cultivation, bring abandoned lands back into cultivation, increase growers’ incomes and strengthen the coconut industry’s contribution to Sri Lanka’s export economy. The programme forms part of the national target of increasing annual coconut production to 4.2 billion nuts and coconut export earnings to US$1.5 billion by 2030. Plantation and Community Infrastructure Minister Samantha Vidhyaratne, Deputy Minister of Cooperative Development Upali Samarasinghe, Northern Province Governor Nagalingam Vethanayahan, ministry officials, representatives of the Coconut Cultivation Board, Coconut Research Institute and Coconut Development Authority, and beneficiary growers attended the event. (Newswire) The post Northern Coconut Triangle: Mullaitivu growers get Rs. 22.7m in subsidies appeared first on Newswire.
