About 78,000 HA of paddy land turn from lush green to yellow: Ministry

The current crop yellowing disease has spread to about 10 percent of this season’s total 780,000 hectares of paddy cultivation, the Ministry of Agriculture said.

The Ministry said the Department of Agriculture has pointed out phosphorus (P) deficiency, potassium (K) deficiency, a combination of both phosphorus and potassium deficiency, root system damage by nematodes, rice thrift damages, brown moth infestation, salinity in paddy fields and iron toxicity as reasons for crop turning yellow.

“In addition, it has been revealed that the majority of the observed paddy has turned yellow due to nutritional deficiencies. The reason is that the farmers have not taken steps to apply MOP fertiliser to the paddy fields so far,” the Ministry said, adding that only 10 percent of the total quantity of MOP fertiliser has been sold.

 “As the price of MOP fertiliser is currently high, Minister Mahinda Amaraweera has already submitted a Cabinet paper to reduce the price of a 50kg bundle of MOP fertiliser sold by the government to make it easier for farmers,” the Ministry said.  

The Minister is to produce the Cabinet paper next week.