Paddy cultivation going at a pace 636,348 hectares out of 851,043 already sown

By Ifham Nizam

The Department of Agrarian Services development yesterday said that 636,348 hectares of paddy fields have already been cultivated in the 25 districts by end of the November this year.Paddy and maize cultivations have been damaged in Anuradhapura district due to the lack of rain, and by the destructive Sena caterpillars that have returned.

The Ministry requests to follow the instructions given by the Department of Agriculture for Integrated Pest ManagementPaddy cultivation in the 2022/23 Maha season has already started. As indicated by the Ministry of Agriculture, the total amount of paddy fields expected to be cultivated this year is 851,043 hectares.

The Department of Agricultural Development says that the total amount of paddy land that has been sown or planted and only the basic land preparation for rice cultivation has been done as of yesterday i.e. 636,348 hectares.Paddy cultivation has started this year with the aim of cultivating 100 percent of the paddy fields cultivated with rain water, as well as from water obtained from the Mahaweli, major irrigation and minor irrigation systems.

Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera held a discussion with all the provincial agriculture secretaries and governors yesterday asking them to take the necessary steps to cultivate all the available paddy lands in the country.

During the discussion, it was emphasized that due to the lack of rain in the Anuradhapura district, maize cultivation has been damaged in many areas and the damage caused by the Sena caterpillar is again rising in the island.Also, the fuel required for rice cultivation is provided to the farmers without any shortage all over the island without any problem. Of the 10.06 million litres of fuel donated by the Chinese government to this country, 6.89 million litres are to be given to the farmers during the harvest. Minister instructed the officials to take steps to provide them free of charge.