Sri Lanka, July 22 -- The systematic theft of high-value agricultural crops poses a serious economic threat to Sri Lanka, the Planters' Association of Ceylon warned as it called for urgent government intervention. Unchecked losses are deterring investment, eroding export competitiveness, and putting the livelihoods of farmers at risk.

Organised networks across plantation districts target pepper, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, vanilla, and avocado. Regional Plantation Companies and smallholder growers report increasing losses that wipe out entire seasons of work, with security expenses running into tens of millions of rupees. In several cases, farmers and estate managers abandoned expansion plans entirely after concluding that returns could ...