(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) – The Ministry of Agriculture has decided to grant compensation to paddy farmers whose paddy fields were affected by the recent floods in the Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi districts.
Minister of Agriculture P. Harrison has advised Agriculture Ministry Secretary KDS Ruwanchandra regarding the compensation and instructed to obtain the information on the damaged paddy lands and take steps to provide agro insurance to the farmers for the damaged paddy lands.
Accordingly, the Agricultural and Agrarian Insurance Board of Sri Lanka, according to its procedure of paying compensation for crop damage, will provide agri insurance of Rs 100,000 per hectare or Rs. 40,000 per acre of damaged paddy land.
In addition, if the paddy cultivation in Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi sustained damage and the farmers are willing to re-cultivate the damaged paddy lands, the Ministry of Agriculture has decided to provide a 50 percent subsidy to purchase seed paddy and the relevant fertilizer subsidy.
However, according to the information received, the floods have not caused any serious damage to the cultivated paddy fields since the rice plants are still at the seedling stage.
However, if the fields are damaged due to the addition of sand or mud to the fields, the Ministry of Agriculture is ready to provide insurance compensation or facilities to cultivate the fields at the discretion of the farmer, the Ministry said.
