As a country blessed with a tropical climate and a geography that suit a variety of agricultural crops, Sri Lanka has been supplying a range of tropical fruit, nut, and vegetables to the world.

On top of Sri Lanka’s climatic advantage, the fertile soils and the conventional wisdom handed down from generation to generation, the established agricultural facilities, irrigation systems, and distributed rainfall patterns are quite conducive to the cultivation of such crops.

Produced by autonomous clusters of farmers, around eighty different varieties of fruit and vegetables are grown in Sri Lanka’s varied agro-climatic areas. They collectively produce more than 900,000 metric tons of fruit and vegetable annually and export both fresh and processed varieties to many destinations in the world. Improved techniques on crop cultivation especially under polytunnels, optimum input applications, pest and disease control, post-harvest management, quality packaging, and improved transportation methods are practiced to ensure the best quality. The government also encourages the private sector engagement in commercial cultivation for further expansion.

The cooler climes of the central hill regions are excellent for temperate crops such as carrot, leek, cabbage, cauliflower, salad leaves, beet, bean, bell pepper and salad cucumbers while the lower country with its dry and wet climes are conducive to a variety of exotic tropical fruits and vegetables such green chilli, red onion, pumpkin, bitter gourd, melon, sweet and sour banana types, queen pineapple, papaya, mango, lemon, and so on.

Sri Lankan also produces succulent tropical fruit such as pineapple, mangosteen, ripe jack, avocado, rambutan, star fruit, passion fruit, and anoda, etc which are known far and wide for their rich unique flavors, aromas with bright appetising colours markets. Also, they’re known to contain plenty of nutrients and entail significant health benefits. With a consumer-base that is increasingly health-conscious, the global demand for Sri Lankan fruit is clearly on the rise.