Women top contributors for National food production drive

Lakshmi DE SILVA

Women's contribution to the Api Vavamu, Rata Nagamu national food production program was more than 60 percent, a senior official of the Agriculture Ministry told the Daily News yesterday. It had also increased the incomes of their families, he added.

The Api Vavamu Rata Nagamu program was started under three categories rural home gardens, urban home gardens and school gardens.

More than 360,000 home gardens are in progress and a new program was started by Agriculture Minister Hemakumara Nanayakkara in the Galle District to upgrade home gardens as productive home gardens, he said.

There are already 58,000 such productive gardens in the Galle District and the agriculture Ministry is trying to increase the number to 308,778 and to extend the new theory to the entire country, he said.