No rice imports despite floods -Basil

Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa said rice was not imported despite a large extent of paddy cultivation in Polonnaruwa, Batticaloa and Ampara districts being devastated by the floods a few months back.

He said the country is self-sufficient in rice production. The minister added that the country produced only 87 percent of its rice requirements in 2005 and added that the country became self-sufficient in rice last year.

Minister Rajapaksa made these observations when he met the Coconut Growers' Association and owners of fertilizer companies at the Presidential Secretariat.

Minister Rajapaksa added that 2010 records indicate that Sri Lanka is 117 percent self-sufficient in rice.

He was of the view that the fertilizer subsidy introduced by President Mahinda Rajapaksa six years ago, helped boost rice production.

The minister added that the agriculture sector will receive unprecedented impetus with the extension of fertilizer subsidy to other sectors such as fruit, tea, coconut and export crop cultivations.

He added that the government allocates over Rs 50,000 for fertilizer subsidy a year.

"A farmer has to bear only 10 percent of the actual price of fertilizer in the open market and the rest is borne by the government under this scheme," the minister said.