The Government’s agricultural policy has already been formulated and the measures to be taken were discussed on Thursday (December 5) with the agricultural policymakers of the National People’s Power (NPP).
A discussion was also held on the possible solutions to the issues that directly affect farmers.
The discussion chaired by Minister of Agriculture, Lands, Livestock and Irrigation, K.D. Lal Kantha was also attended by Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Namal Karunaratne and Deputy Minister of Land and Irrigation, Dr. Susil Ranasinghe.
Minister Lal Kantha drew attention to the threat of wild animals that affect the farming community, and added that the measures taken by previous Governments had not solved the problem of damage caused to the crops of the farming community by wild animals.
He said that the Government will solve this problem as a matter of priority in keeping with its agricultural policy, and that all efforts have been made to set up an inter-ministerial unit to adopt more scientific methods to control wild elephants and other animals that damage crops.
The Minister said that steps have been taken to get over the damage caused to the crops and irrigation facilities of the farmers in the event of a sudden disaster.
He said the agricultural policy committee maintains close coordination with the Minister of Agriculture, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Deputy Minister of Irrigation for short, medium and long-term solutions to meet agricultural problems.
