National programme to cultivate abandoned paddy lands

Chamikara WEERASINGHE

Colombo:Moves are under way by the Ministry of Agriculture Development and Agrarian Services to cultivate hitherto abandoned and deserted paddy lands in the country under a national programme.

The programme will be introduced from Bandaragama, in Kumburugoda, Bolabotuwa by the Ministry on October 9, Agriculture Development and Agrarian

Services Minister Maithripala Sirisena said yesterday.

The Ministry plans to cultivate about 100,000 acres in the country under the programme, said the minister.

Minister Sirisena said the decision to introduce a national programme to cultivate abandoned and deserted paddy land was based on the progress they have already made in the National campaign commenced in 2007 to bolster the cultivation of food crops in the country. The cultivation programme commenced in 2007, Let Us Cultivate and Uplift the Nation has been a success and it has helped to boost the national economy, he said.

It has also supported our goal to reach self sufficiency in various food products.

The Ministry's decision to launch a national cultivation programme for the country can be attributed to the success of the 2007 campaign, he said.