Courtesy Hiru News

The All Ceylon Dedicated Economic Centres Association states that the current shortage of vegetables in the market will intensify during the forthcoming festive season.

Mettika Vithanage, Professor of Natural Resources at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, warns that the country will face a food shortage by next April.

According to the management trusts, the prices of vegetables have gone up again with the decrease in the stocks of vegetables received by the economic centres.

Accordingly, the supply of vegetables to the Nuwara Eliya Economic Center has decreased by about 60%, while the Thambuththegama Economic Center has received only 20% of the stocks of vegetables today.

While the supply of vegetables to the Dambulla Economic Center is limited to 15%, the Manning Market receives only 25% of the stock of vegetables.

The All Ceylon Dedicated Economic Centres’ Association stated that due to the lack of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, farmers will not be able to harvest their produce at the economic centres and will face a shortage of vegetables during the festive season.

The vegetable traders said that their business was also in crisis due to the increase in prices due to insufficient stocks.