• Includes paddy, maize, upcountry and low-country veges, etc.

Approximately 108,000 hectares (ha) of paddy, 6,600 ha of maize, 6,143 ha of up-country and low-country vegetables and 11,000 ha of land used to cultivate other crops have been completely destroyed due to adverse weather conditions experienced in recent days.

Addressing a media briefing held yesterday (08), the Secretary to the Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation Ministry, D.P. Wickremesinghe noted that the process to provide compensation for the total crop damage has already begun.

Wickramasinghe added that a total of 615,000 ha of paddy were cultivated in the country, of which 108,000 ha have been completely damaged.

“Out of the 87,474 ha of maize, 6,600 ha have been destroyed. For other field crops, we had cultivated 27,600 ha, of which 11,000 ha have been completely destroyed. For vegetables, in the up-country areas, 2,613 ha out of 5,893 ha have been completely damaged. In the low-country, 3,530 ha out of 8,990 ha have been destroyed. The Finance Ministry has issued a special circular providing a mechanism to allocate funds to cover both the investments already made on these farms and the costs required to restore them for cultivation. Accordingly, compensation has been set at Rs. 150,000 per ha for paddy, Rs. 150,000 per ha for maize and other field crops, and Rs. 200,000 per ha for vegetables. Preliminary work on this has already started. Some farmers have even resumed cultivation. Taking all these farmers into account, we are working to release the approved funds as quickly as possible.” Wickramasinghe said that if any farmer experiences delays, they can directly contact the emergency hotline 1918 to provide information.