Department of Export Agriculture Archives

The garden of spices and more-By RANDIMA ATTYGALLE Source:Island The National Spice Garden in Matale is promised to be a destination of attraction and learning for both local and foreign visitors Covering an extent of eight hectares, the National Spice Garden coming under the purview of the Central Research Station of the Department of Export Agriculture (DEA) will formally open to the public from March 18. Its location in Matale, (about one km on A9 Matale- Bandarapola road) considered to be the ‘spice hub’ of the island is promised to be more than a plantation but also a tourist attraction adding to the number of other important tourist attractions in the area, says Director (Research), DEA, Dr. Ananda Subasinghe. “Matale is an agro-ecological zone with favourable climatic factors including a rich soil ideal for spices. Moreover, visitors will have the bonus of seeing multiple tourist attractions nearby of religious, cultural ...

Ceylon Cinnamon clinches country’s first GI status Source:ft.lk Major breakthrough for one of Sri Lanka’s iconic spices obtaining European Union Commission awards Geographical Indication (GI) certification Decade-long effort by multiple stakeholders comes to fruition offering Sri Lanka opportunity to differentiate and be competitive against substitutes of lower quality in EU Achievement a major boost for over 30,000 stakeholders involved in cinnamon industry Marking a milestone, Ceylon Cinnamon on Wednesday had received the country’s first-ever Geographical Indication (GI) certification and status from the European Union (EU) Commission. The outcome was a result of a painstaking, decade-long, arduous endeavour led by the Sri Lanka Export Development (EDB) under the Ministry of Trade with the support of numerous public and private stakeholders. The Daily FT on 28 January first reported the impending milestone via a Guest Column by spice industry champion Sarada de Silva (ft.lk/columns/Ceylon-Cinnamon-on-verge-of-obtaining-geographical-indications-a-first-for-Sri-Lanka/4-729756). The Export Development Board (EDB) said yesterday GI ...