Over 3,000 kilos paddy cultivation in 2022 Yala season

The Department of Agriculture says that 3,207 kilos of paddy per hectare have been cultivated during the 2022 Yala season.

This was revealed at a progress review meeting held on Thursday over the expected rice harvest and cultivation in the 2023 season under the patronage of Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera.

It was revealed that before the distribution of chemical fertiliser, during the 2022 Yala season farmers commenced cultivation with 248,000 hectares of rice cultivated.

However, following a decision reached by the Government, steps were taken to provide urea fertiliser during the 2022 Yala season.

As per the Indian credit facility, 65,500 MT of urea fertiliser was imported and distributed among farmers.

At the same time, farmers resumed paddy cultivation and the total area under cultivation increased to 512,000 hectares.

However, during the 2021 Maha season due to the ban on chemical fertiliser and the organic fertiliser policy, the paddy yield obtained per hectare decreased to 2,853 kilos.

A total of 775,846 hectares were cultivated during the 2021 Maha season, the lowest harvest during a Maha season.