• Latest
  • Trending

Through Strawberry Fields

April 1, 2014
Auto Draft

Poson Poya

June 9, 2022
Seasonal Fruities in Our Island Nation

Seasonal Fruities in Our Island Nation

June 9, 2022
Poson and the Mihintale Season

Poson and the Mihintale Season

June 9, 2022
Wine, Hiking & Well-Being

Wine, Hiking & Well-Being

June 8, 2022
Behind the Scenes Green Chefs

Behind the Scenes Green Chefs

June 8, 2022
THE LOOM IS HER GURU

THE LOOM IS HER GURU

May 17, 2022
The Glory of Vesak and The Teaching of Buddha

The Glory of Vesak and The Teaching of Buddha

May 17, 2022
Juicy Tropical Treats: Star Fruits

Juicy Tropical Treats: Star Fruits

May 17, 2022
VISION CARE CELEBRATES 30 YEARS OF REVOLUTIONIZING SRI LANKA’S EYE CARE INDUSTRY

VISION CARE CELEBRATES 30 YEARS OF REVOLUTIONIZING SRI LANKA’S EYE CARE INDUSTRY

May 13, 2022
Chilling in Arugambay

Chilling in Arugambay

May 13, 2022
MINISTRY OF CRAB RECOGNIZED AS ONE OF ASIA’S 50 BEST RESTAURANTS FOR THE EIGHTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR 

MINISTRY OF CRAB RECOGNIZED AS ONE OF ASIA’S 50 BEST RESTAURANTS FOR THE EIGHTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR 

May 17, 2022
Safilo Group hosts ‘Buying Day’ marking Carrera’s 65 years of Design and Quality

Safilo Group hosts ‘Buying Day’ marking Carrera’s 65 years of Design and Quality

May 14, 2022
Retail
Tuesday, July 5, 2022
Subscription
Advertise
  • Home
  • Issues
    • 2022
      • January 2022
      • February 2022
      • March 2022
      • April 2022
      • May 2022
      • June 2022
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Archive
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result

Through Strawberry Fields

by
in Features, Slider
0 0
0
A worker sifting through to pluck the ripened strawberries
A worker sifting through to pluck the ripened strawberries

Blue skies dappled with white clouds that drifted seamlessly to unknown destinations far away, terraced fields blanketed in greenery through the rolling landscape and small houses that seemed to peek here and there ushered us to Meepilimanna. Here we inched towards the Jagro Strawberry Farms to unravel the story of strawberry cultivation in Sri Lanka.

Words Krishani Peiris Photographs Menaka Aravinda

Shading our eyes against the glare of the sun, we slowly perused the land before us. Rows upon rows of strawberry plants deftly positioned next to each other filled the periphery and we peered around to catch a glimpse of the ripe red berries amongst the green leaves. Leaning close, we observed a mixture of red and green berri—ripe and unripe ones—as we set about through the strawberry fields bent on tracing the growth of these succulent and much favoured berries…

 

Strawberry CULTIVATION

Spread across 15-16 acres, the beginnings of the Jagro Strawberry Farms could be traced to the year 2003 in Radalla. However, as the farm grew in extent, it was shifted to Meepilimanna while turning Radalla into a nursery ground where they now specialise in growing two varieties of strawberries—Tamar and Festival. Though it is hard to tell apart the two varieties, it is said by many strawberry lovers that the Festival is more crunchier than the Tamar. As such the sorting, quality assessment and the grading of the plants are carried out in the nursery at Radalla. After which the plants are brought to the Meepilimanna Farm for planting.

The most arduous task in the cultivation of strawberries is said to be the preparation of the land and the soil beds where the plants are to be cultivated. These soil beds are put together either inside a ‘tunnel’ on an elevated berth or outside in the fields as raised planting beds.A special fertiliser mixture, which includes coir is used in the soil beds and are covered by mulch before planting the strawberry plants in holes made in these special berths. This is to ensure that the plant does not touch the fertilizer due to its extremely sensitive nature, if the soil is too hot or moist, it would have an adverse effect on the growth of the plant. Further tubes or drip tapes buried in each bed supplies the necessary nutrients for the growth of the plants.

Growing strawberries inside a specially built tunnel was adopted by Jagro to safeguard the plants from the volatile weather conditions of Nuwara Eliya and the Farm is currently in the process of covering, step by step, the whole extent with tunnels. However, the plants located outside of the tunnels are also arrayed as such that they could be covered if necessary. Further, the fields are visited by agronomists on a regular basis to determine the condition of the plants, water and nutrient requirements.

The farm is divided into 24 blocks where the planting and harvesting are all done by hand—thus making it a labour intensive task. After planting, it takes about a month for the plant to start bearing fruit and can yield berries up to six to eight months before reaching the end of its life cycle. Harvesting is done daily where ripened berries are hand plucked and graded as Grade 1, 2 and 3 depending on the size, colour and shape of the fruit.

 

Through the FIELDS

As we traversed through the fields, climbing over from one field to the next, we observed workers bent diligently and sifting through the numerous berries to find the ripened ones ready to be harvested. A bush plant, the leaves were a dark green and white flowers dotted these beds standing out amidst the darkened leaves—a tell tale sign that more berries are to be harvested in the near future.

Workers made their way through the strawberry plant beds eagerly searching for the ripened strawberries that bore an almost heart-like shape and took on a vibrant red hue. Once found they plucked the fruit and laid them carefully in plastic trays taking care not to damage or squish the delicate fruit. Then these trays were carried to the packing facility where they were sorted and packed into containers of 250g and 125g before transporting the produce to the final destination.

Further, even during transportation, Jagro takes care not to overlay the containers so as to secure the velvety skin and the scrumptiousness of the fruit.

 

From the FARM…

Jagro caters to both the national and international markets under the brands Strawberry Fields and Sungrown. Each of the berries are handpicked and packed and where its freshness and delectable taste will tempt any palate to savour its crunchable flavour.

Further, Jagro produces strawberry jams and toppings with these homegrown strawberries, which comes in 450grms, 300grms—jams, and 450grms and 250grms—toppings which allow strawberry lovers to enjoy the deliciousness of toppings, and jams made out of fresh strawberries.

Weaving our way yet again to the beginning of the fields, we watched the constant trickle of workers that flowed in and out of the packing house and those who went on about harvesting the strawberries without an inkling of the impact that they had on their curious visitors, who were earnestly surveying their every move. For them it might be a mundane task but for us it was an adventure into an unexplored realm.

 

Tel: (+94 11) 219 9041/3

sales@jagrofresh.lk

jagrofresh.lk

TweetShareShare

Search

No Result
View All Result

Recent News

Auto Draft

Poson Poya

Seasonal Fruities in Our Island Nation

Seasonal Fruities in Our Island Nation

Poson and the Mihintale Season

Poson and the Mihintale Season

Explore Sri Lanka

Explore Sri Lanka Online, the web edition of Sri Lanka’s leading monthly corporate publication. Founded in 1996, the magazine currently has a distribution of over 6,000 copies island-wide.

Recent News

  • Poson Poya
  • Seasonal Fruities in Our Island Nation
  • Poson and the Mihintale Season

Find Us

Address : BT Options 536,
R. A. De Mel Mawatha,
Colombo 03,
Sri Lanka
(+94 11) 259 7991
(+94) 715 134 134
info@btoptions.com
btoptions.com

  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy

© 2022 Explore Sri Lanka | Designed by Lithic Labs

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Issues
    • 2022
      • January 2022
      • February 2022
      • March 2022
      • April 2022
      • May 2022
      • June 2022
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Archive

© 2022 Explore Sri Lanka | Designed by Lithic Labs

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In