Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said 503,000 hectares have been planted in the Yala Season and there is no possibility of a rice shortage even though 100,000 acres of crop loss has been reported. The 503,000 hectares of paddy has been cultivated this Yala Season. Although a very high yield was expected in the Yala Season, due to the drought that has affected the country, it can be assumed that around fifty thousand acres of crops have been damaged. However, studies conducted by the Agriculture Department have confirmed that many fields that have been harvested have high yields.
Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said that despite the loss of paddy crops in 100,000 acres of paddy fields in the Yala season due to the drought, there will not be a shortage of rice in the future. It is also the reason for the successful harvest of the last Maha season and we can get the high yield in several districts of this Yala season.
The National Field Day organized by the Ambalantota Paddy Research Institute was held yesterday at the Paddy Research Institute and Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera participated as the chief guest.Yala season harvesting in research fields of Ambalantota Rice Research Institute also started today.
The Minister said there is no need to fear that there will be a shortage of rice and the current stocks of paddy and rice in the country will be sufficient until the harvest of the next Maha season. But the Government has no buffer stock of rice or paddy. Currently, all paddy stocks are in the private sector. Even though the Paddy Marketing Board has started buying paddy, the farmers are refraining from selling paddy to the Paddy Marketing Board.
Therefore, even if there is no shortage of rice in the near future, the price of rice in the market will increase to some extent. The minister also mentioned that if the price of rice rises due to the availability of paddy in the hands of the private sector, the Government will have to implement measures to protect the consumer.
The Minister also mentioned that all the damaged paddy fields in the Udawalawe region are the highest yielding paddy fields this year. Agriculture Department Director General Malathi Parasuraman participated in this field day programme.