Minister orders assessment of drought damage

Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Amaraweera, on Monday, instructed the Agriculture and Agrarian Insurance Board to estimate the damage caused by the drought to the agriculture sector.

The Minister said so following a discussion with representatives of farming communities. Currently, the government paid only Rs 100,000 per hectare of farmland, and that was not adequate, he added. The government had paid Rs. 1.7 billion as compensation to farmers for crop damage in 2022, the Minister said. (RK)