Deputy Minister of Agriculture Namal Karunaratne says that plans are underway to establish a new garment manufacturing factory using banana stems, aimed at improving the income of banana farmers in Embilipitiya.

He said that investors have already expressed interest in the project, which will be implemented with technical assistance from the Chinese government, and that a special discussion was recently held at the Embilipitiya District Secretariat regarding the initiative.

The key feature of the project is a modern technological process in which banana stems are processed into yarn, dyed (batik-style), and ultimately turned into finished garments ready for use.

Commenting further, the Deputy Minister stated:
“When banana stems are fed into the system from one side, yarn is produced, it is dyed, and finally, a finished garment comes out the other end. We also plan to use the residual waste material to produce several other by-products.”

He added that a previous project had already been launched in the Molkatiya area of Embilipitiya to clean, pack, and export bananas, and that an unused government building is expected to be used for the new textile factory.

The Minister further said that through this project, banana farmers would gain a higher market value not only for their fruit harvest but also for banana stems.