🚨 Organised Cash Crop Theft Threatens Plantation Sector

• Overview: The Planters’ Association of Ceylon (PA) has urged the Govt to address systematic crop theft, warning it severely erodes export competitiveness, deters investment, and threatens farmer livelihoods across Sri Lanka’s plantation districts. • Financial & Sector Impact: - Heavy losses reported in high-value non-traditional crops including pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, vanilla, and avocado. - Security expenditures are crippling profitability; one RPC spends ~Rs. 20 million over 3 months to protect a single crop. - Growers are pulling back from expansion; a planned 18-hectare cardamom project was suspended due to unsustainable security costs. - Undermining national export diversification goals and competing against lower-cost regional producers in Vietnam, India, and Kenya. • Key Operational Issues: - Organized groups target fields during full-moon nights; crops quickly enter untraceable informal supply chains. - High-tech solutions (CCTV, drones) remain ineffective due to power cuts, terrain, and equipment theft. - Current legal penalties are inadequate and fail to serve as a financial deterrent. • Industry Demands: The PA calls for strict legal penalty revisions reflecting actual crop value, a traceability framework for informal supply chains, and formal recognition of crop theft in national agricultural policy. Based on ongoing data collection by PA.