Agriculture and Plantation Industries Minister Mahinda Amaraweera says that President Ranil Wickremesinghe has instructed the Agriculture Ministry to take all necessary measures to double the paddy cultivation in the country in the next six cropping seasons in order to make Sri Lanka self-sufficient in rice.
He expressed these views at the Southern Province Agriculture Development Committee meeting held recently.
“By now, our country has reached a self-sufficient level of rice, but it has not been possible to get the same level of harvest from all the paddy fields countrywide. The average yield of paddy in this country varies from 2.5 to 4.5 metric tons of paddy per hectare. Also, the farmers in some districts have recorded up to 11 metric tons as the highest paddy yield per hectare in Southeast Asia.
It is agreed to increase the yield in our country’s paddy cultivation as well as to maintain a high international demand for our rice by improving the quality of rice.
“Because of this, the President has instructed that special programmes be implemented to introduce the new technology to increase paddy yield to the farmers and that the Government will provide the necessary financial and technical allocations.
Currently, the amount of paddy fields in our country is eight lakh hectares. The amount of paddy cultivated in the two seasons is 1.3 million hectares per year. The total yield of paddy is about 5.2 million metric tons. The amount of rice that can be produced is 3.1 million metric tons and 2.4 million metric tons of rice is required for consumption in this country annually”.
The Minister also said that although there is enough rice in the country, it is the Government’s goal to increase rice production in the country with the aim of implementing the Government’s food security programme and providing space for the public to consume rice at a minimum price.
In the year 2023, the President gave an amount of Rs.132 billion for agriculture and in the year 2024, the Government will give more money to introduce new technology in rice cultivation to the farmers, the Minister said.
