Army’s Manik Farm Begins Production of Hybrid Corn Seeds

Sri Lanka Army’s Directorate of Agriculture and Livestock, in close cooperation with the Department of Agriculture, has commenced the novel production of MI Hybrid I corn seeds in its Manik Farm at Vavuniya with the objective of reducing the government’s annual cost for importation of corn seeds.

Directorate of Agriculture and Livestock, commanded by Colonel A.K.A.B Gunaratne taking a new initiative in this regard experimented the possibilities of producing those Hybrid baby corn seeds for the local market.

Quite recently, the Department of Agriculture was impressed to see that the Manik Farm of the Army has been successful in producing those quality egg seeds to be in line with the producing processes, recommended by the Department.

Those farms grow paddy, corn, vegetables, fruits, coconuts, sugarcane, peanuts, oranges, arecanut, cinnamon, banana, jak, seasonal crops and produce dairy products. Besides, some of those farms manage animal husbandry, poultry and dairy cattle farming.

Troops of the Sri Lanka Army General Services Corps (SLAGSC) are actively engaged in these projects island-wide and sell part of the harvest to the public at reasonable price through their small outlets.

A few days ago, Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation on its own visited the Manik Farm and televised the successful story behind the production process to be shown in their ‘Mihikatha Daruwo’ TV programme.