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No food shortage due to drought

from L.B. Wijayasiri in Kandy

Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture M.S. Wickramarachchi said at a conference at Gannoruwa recently that there was no reason whatsoever to have any fears of a food shortage due to the current drought because the paddy harvest of the Yala Season which is being reaped is satisfactory.

This meeting was held at the auditorium of the Department of Agriculture Inservice Training Institute, Gannoruwa, Peradeniya to discuss the progress of the collecting of the harvest of the Yala Season and the targets for the coming Maha Season. All the senior officials of the Ministry and its departments, provincial officials participated.

Wickramarachchi said that during the recent Yala Season 352,000 hectares of lands were cultivated with paddy. Although the harvest of about 25,000 hectares of those lands were destroyed, the harvest of 330,000 hectares are being collected. They hoped to get 78 bushels per acre and accordingly the anticipated harvest of paddy this Yala Season is 980,000 bushels. They would be able to achieve their targets with regard to paddy production this season.

Therefore there was no reason to have fears that there could be a food shortage due to the drought. The required stocks of rice would be supplied to the local market in the near future.

Additional Secretary to the Ministry Mrs. D.U. Yapa, Director General of Agriculture Dr. Jerry Jayawardhane, Commissioner General of Agrarian Services Pussepitiya also spoke.

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