According to the Department of Agriculture, 7686 hectares of paddy fields have been damaged due to insect epidemics and floods this year.

Accordingly, 2908 hectares of paddy fields have been damaged due to floods and 4778 hectares due to diseases and pests. These crop losses are mostly reported from Trincomalee, Ampara, Puttalam and Ratnapura districts.

But it is estimated that 02 million metric tons of paddy will be harvested from the total paddy area of 480,000 hectares this year yala season, which is a higher yield compared to the previous yala seasons. The yield of paddy in previous seasons is about 1.5 million metric tons.

In terms of cultivated area, 77 percent of the total paddy fields were cultivated with Nadu paddy, 11 percent with samba paddy, and 12 percent with keeri samba.

The Minister of Agriculture and Plantation Industry Mr. Mahinda Amaraweera instructed the Department of Agriculture to provide a report regarding crop damage in the yala season. Accordingly, the Minister advised the Agriculture and Agrarian Insurance Board to take steps to pay the crop losses in full in the areas where crop losses have been reported in the yala season.

The Agricultural and Agrarian Insurance Board has made arrangements to pay for crop damage as soon as the harvest is over as the harvest is still in progress in many areas.

Source - https://www.dailynews.lk