Sri Lanka to cultivate neglected lands to produce more food
Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena said on Monday that all neglected private and state lands across the country would be cultivated in order to produce more food.
In a statement released by his office, Sirisena said that a gazette notification will be issued in order to implement the program from next month.
He said his government was taking the decision in order to save the people of the country from poverty, strengthen the national economy and build a prosperous country for future generations.
“The plan of the current government includes development which will be shared among all,” Sirisena said.
Parts of Sri Lanka, including the north central province and the north, have been facing a severe drought pushing 900,000 people in the island into “acute food insecurity”.
Production of rice, the country’s staple food, is forecast to drop almost 40 percent to 2.7 million tons in 2017, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP) said in a report released in June. Other crops including pulses, chillies and onion are also expected to take a blow, it said.
(Xinhua)
Latest Headlines in Sri Lanka
- Sri Lanka welcomes 2 millionth tourist, marking historic milestone December 26, 2024
- Sri Lanka Police introduces nighttime traffic rules to enhance safety December 26, 2024
- Today marks 20 years since 2004 Tsunami Disaster December 26, 2024
- Wasantha Handapangoda passes away December 25, 2024
- PM Harini Amarasuriya calls for togetherness, gratitude, and peace this Christmas December 25, 2024
More promises. Volkswagen factory, mega city with high speed trains. State of the art hospitals, economic hub of the world. What next?
The farmers is lands that are under cultivation are unable to produce food because of the drought.
Now, the lily-white leader wants to convert uncultivated and state lands to cultivable lands.
Where is the water coming from for these lands? Aren’t these lands affected by drought?
I cannot understand the lily white’s strategy behind this move! Maybe, state lands can be vested in the names of politicos for this purpose ! There you go mate, grab those state lands while the Yahapalana moon is shining.
Yaha Palanaya is dead. Now he is trying to be a dictator. These guys only talk. So my idea is to attach a generator to their mouth so that they will produce sufficient electricity to whole of the country.
the minister of aagriculture is a real nut jon and for sirisena t depend on the united nations reports claim that paddy production will drop by 40 percent is a guess that is without meaning. sirisena coming from polonnaruwa ought to know how the agricultural system works and its weakmess. what is the cosy of cultivation of a heactare and how many kilos of paddy should be produced to cover this cost. if sirisenas concern for the destitute then he ought to serve the destitute in the agricultural community through subsidies for production for now sirisena and is government should realise what it is to impot rice to feed the population in dollars