(LANKAPUVATH | COLOMBO) – The Ministry of Agriculture has implemented a program to prevent the shortage of quality seed paddy required for paddy cultivation in the 2022/23 Maha season.
Seed paddy required for the Maha season is generally produced during the Yala season. However, the Ministry states that the farmers who cultivated seed paddy in the 2022 Yala season were facing a big problem due to the lack of chemical fertilizers.
The Minister of Agriculture, Mahinda Amaraweera has instructed the Department of Agriculture to take immediate steps to provide the required chemical fertilizers to the seed paddy farmers as per the findings of the discussions held with the representatives of the farmers’ organizations.
Seed paddy has been sown in 6,774.3 hectares this Yala season covering all nine provinces of the country including the Mahaweli Zone.
The Department of Agriculture has informed the Minister that steps have been taken to release 1,524 metric tons (MT) urea, 372.6 MT of TSP (Tipple Super Phosphate) and 406.5 MT of MOP (Muriate OF Potash) as required for the area of the paddy fields.
If seed paddy production is disrupted during the Yala season this year, it will be difficult to procure seed paddy for the 2022/23 Maha season. Therefore, these steps were taken to provide quality seed paddy to farmers, the Minister said.
Meanwhile, the private sector has already released 147,000 bushels of seed paddy required for seed paddy cultivation this Yala season.
