Special project to recover cultivation loss in Yala season

Wednesday, 25 January 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Chamodi Gunawardana

The Government is planning a special project to cultivate 60,000 hectares during the Yala season to recover cultivation losses incurred due to the country’s dry weather, Agriculture Department Director General Dr. Rohan Wijekoon told the Daily FT.

Dr. Wijekoon said the Government was expecting to offer aid to all farmers who were willing to cultivate in the next Yala season starting from April 2017.

The cultivation damage was caused by the severe drought in 16 districts including Ampara, Kurunegala and Anuradhapura, Dr. Wijekoon revealed. Only a total of 400,000 hectares of paddy was cultivated this season, and out of that too 25,000 hectares was destroyed due to drought conditions.

According to Dr. Wijekoon, Sri Lanka was planning to cultivate rice on 800,000 hectares but it was able to cultivate only 400,000 hectares in Ampara, Anuradhapura, Kurunegala and other districts.

However, Dr. Wijekoon said that the country had 37,500 hectares of paddy which could be used for the future requirements of the country.

Commenting on the other cultivation segments such as vegetable and fruit cultivation, Dr. Wijekoon said that 50,000 hectares of corn and 2,300 of soya beans had been saved for the country’s use.

He added that there would be no shortage of vegetables for as per the requirement of the next three months since the Central Province vegetable cultivation was a success.

The effects of the drought, which only affected nine districts earlier, have now spread to seven more districts, affecting a total of 200,262 families from 16 districts. However, the highest affected rate of 274,628 people from 76,771 families has been reported in the Northern Province.

Over 300 families in the Kalutara District have been affected by salt water contamination and the National Water Supply and Drainage Board said that they had already arranged facilities to filter water for the daily use of residents. Furthermore, they have arranged water tanks and bowsers to distribute drinking water for them.

All districts are likely to receive normal rainfall during January and February, according to Meteorology Department predictions. However, the quantity of rainfall that will be received during these two months even if normal rainfall resumes will not be substantial.

Thus, any spell of rain that may be experienced in any part of the country during the next two months will not ease the prevailing drought conditions in the country.