SANASA Entrepreneur Financial Expertise Centre (SEFEC) continues to empower rural communities through its latest initiative of constructing a Model Spice Processing Plant at Rideegama in the Kurunegala District.
The opening ceremony of the plant was graced by the presence of the Governor of the North-Western Province Raja Kollure, Former Chairperson of North Western Provincial Council R.D. Wimaladasa, Provincial Co-operative Commissioner North Western Province K.M.H.S.K. Jayalath, and Director-General of the Department of Export Agriculture Dr A.P. Heenkenda, and the Chairman of the SANASA Trust Company Polgahawela B.R. Abeywickrama Bandara.
SEFEC’s goal is to empower rural economies by reinforcing cooperative enterprise through the value chain development concept in Sri Lanka.
This processing plant, facilitated by the SANASA Trust Company, Polgahawela, is part of a national-level plan implemented as a result of value chain analysis and research conducted by all institutions and divisions of the SANASA network, mainly Rideegama SANASA Union, Kandegedhara SANASA Primary Society and GAP Certified Pepper Producer Organization, Orgodapola, all institutions related to the pepper industry in Sri Lanka, governments and local bodies such as the Department of Export Agriculture, Sri Lanka Standards Institution, Export Development Board as well as local exporters and farmers.
This project has identified regional pepper-grown areas or pepper belts and provides the necessary knowledge, technology, and support to design high-quality products for the international market while helping our local farmers gain maximum benefits from this process. The main objective of building a processing plant is to increase the availability of quality certified pepper to meet the requirements of the international markets through exporters and processors, thereby ensuring a premium price for farmers.
The plant is equipped with the dehydration machine called Ozone Redfarm, which is powered by ozone technology and will be able to completely remove the highly toxic fungal bacteria and bacteria called Aplotec that can attach to crops during storage, and can also dry up to 1,000 pounds in about 6-7 hours.
The facility will also be used to improve the quality of other spices such as clove, nutmeg, turmeric, ginger, jackfruit and lemongrass. The plant is owned by the Rideegama Sanasa Union, which has leased it to the Orgodapola Pepper Producers Organization for operation over 10 years.
For the first time, arrangements have been made by the EFECS Project (Establishment of an Entrepreneur Financial Centre in Sri Lanka) to issue the Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) Certificate, a leading internationally recognized certification, by the Department of Export Agriculture to the farmers free-of-charge.
This Pepper Producer Organization has over 21 members who have been trained by the project on pre and post-harvest practices and are auditing by the Department of Export Agriculture (DEA). It is expected that up to 300 smallholder farmers from the surrounding areas will get the benefits of the plant. The project will facilitate Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) certification by the Industrial Development Board (IDB) for the plant while market linkages have been established with Verger Naturals, a spice exporter based in Horana.
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