He said that with the current foreign exchange crisis, the demand for natural Sri Lankan toddy in the world market is high, and a huge demand has been created in the international market.

The minister emphasized that the manufacturing of artificial toddy, had posed a huge threat to the toddy industry. Therefore, it was very much needed to increase the natural toddy production in the country.

This information was revealed following a discussion held with several toddy manufacturers and exporters at the Ministry.

He said necessary arrangements will be made to collect tax from the production of a litre of toddy, and he further informed the producers to give it their maximum support.

The attention of the minister also focused on the urgent construction of laboratories outside Colombo to measure the quality of toddy products. (Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama)