An agribusiness exhibition is to be held in the East with the intention of exposing rural farmers to latest technologies and methods and creating links to markets across the island.

The Ag-Biz East trade exhibition, the first of its kind, is organised by the National Agribusiness Council (NAC) along with USAID, which is funding a projects called Core, and will be held on July 16 and 17 at the Hindu Cultural Centre in Trincomalee.

Sri Lanka is focusing on developing its agricultural sector to achieve self-sufficiency, which could save foreign exchange and provide employment.

The Ag-Biz East aims to provide an opportunity to showcase national agribusiness in the East and create a platform for stake holders of agriculture supply chains to meet and create value, said NAC Secretary-General Rohitha Nanayakkara.

The agricultural sector is also assisted by funds from the government funnelled through the Department of Agriculture (DOA) in several regions in a five-year project which commenced in 2006.

This project, amounting to Rs. 3,664.46 million, is expected to achieve its goals by end of this year.

According to the department, Sri Lanka hopes to reach 100 percent self-sufficiency, ensuring year-round availability of rice stocks, by 2010.

The three districts in the Eastern province hold around seven percent of Sri Lanka’s agricultural land, it holds 25 percent of the country’s paddy land.

With 31 percent of the population involved in the agriculture sector, it is one of the main positive economic sectors of the country, said Governor Eastern Province Rear Admiral (Retd.) Mohan Wijewickrama.

Being one of the war impacted regions, vast tracts of land was lost during the conflict, most of it agricultural lands.

"Agricultural production fell down significantly, but today it has been restored and taken full advantage of," he said.

The 30-year conflict damaged the agricultural sector infrastructure and outward migration of experienced farmers resulted in a knowledge vacuum leading to poor yield and low profitability. Most farmers are still following the traditional methods of cultivation and have not been yet exposed to new technology.

Ag-Biz East is expected to turn things around and reawaken the region by taking the latest products, technology and trends to farmers in the region, helping to develop what is now a least profitable business to higher profitability, the organisers said.

"The response to the exhibition is positive and in the near future we hope to take Ag-Biz to the North as there is massive potential for development in the sector.

"However, the country should focus on developing agriculture to its full potential within a short period of time to minimize further risks of a food crisis and also to earn more foreign exchange through exports," the National Agribusiness Council said.