COLOMBO, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's Ministry of Agriculture launched a pilot program on Thursday to sterilize monkeys to combat widespread crop destruction.

Speaking at a press briefing in Kandy district, Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land, and Irrigation K.D. Lal Kantha announced that the program is being implemented in the Central Province.

As part of the initiative, monkeys will be transported to the Wildlife Research and Training Center, where they will undergo sterilization before being released back into the wild, the minister said.

The minister also noted plans to expand the program nationwide in the near future.

Sri Lanka has recently experienced a significant coconut shortage, with officials estimating that monkeys and giant squirrels destroy approximately 200 million coconuts annually.

According to the Coconut Research Institute, the country usually produces about three billion nuts per year, but yields declined sharply in 2024 due to factors such as climate change, rising prices of agricultural inputs and damage caused by animals. Enditem

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