Approximately 108,000 hectares of paddy, 6,600 hectares of maize, 6,143 hectares of up-country and low-country vegetables and 11,000 hectares 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 today (08), D. P. Wickramasinghe, the Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation noted that the process to provide compensation for the total crop damage has already begun.

Secretary D.P. Wickramasinghe added, a total of 615,000 hectares of paddy were cultivated in the country, of which 108,000 hectares have been completely damaged.

Secretary Wickramasinghe further stated:

“Out of 87,474 hectares of maize, 6,600 hectares have been destroyed. For other field crops, we had cultivated 27,600 hectares, of which 11,000 hectares have been completely destroyed.

For vegetables, in the up-country areas, 2,613 hectares out of 5,893 hectares have been completely damaged. In the low-country, 3,530 hectares out of 8,990 hectares have been destroyed. The Ministry of Finance 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 hectare for paddy, Rs. 150,000 per hectare for maize and other field crops, and Rs. 200,000 per hectare 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.”

The Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation, D.P. Wickramasinghe said if any farmer experiences delays, they can directly contact the emergency hotline 1918 to provide information.