Farmers to be paid record number crop damage compensation this year: Minister

This year will be the year in which the highest amount of crop damage compensation will be paid in the history of Sri Lanka, Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Amaraweera said.

The Minister announced this while starting the agricultural programs at the Rathgama Panwila Youth Agri-Entrepreneurship Village yesterday (17) evening.

The Ministry of Agriculture is going to implement the Youth Agri Entrepreneurship Village program in 11 villages in several districts this year. So far, activities have been started in 07 villages and Panwila is the 8th village in the program.

A number of beneficiary families in Panwila, Mawadavila and Ranapadeniya Gramseva domains were also distributed equipment sets, seeds and plants needed for poultry farming and other agricultural activities.

“This year goes down in history as the year in which the highest amount of crop damage compensation is given in the history of Sri Lanka. We know that by now the whole country has been engulfed by drought. Lack of water affected 65,000 acres in the Udawalawe region, which contributes the most to the production of rice needed by our country,” Minister Amaraweera said. 

If the right decisions were taken at the right time, this damage would not have happened to the farmers of Udawalawe. According to our current assessment, 39,000 acres have been destroyed by drought, he noted.  “This amount is increasing day by day. We think that by the time the assessments are completed, the amount of crop damage may exceed 50,000 acres,”

“The Udawalawe region is the region with the best paddy fields that give us the most paddy harvest. Today, we must watch the rice fields in that region being destroyed. I fearlessly say that this disaster was caused by not taking the right decisions at the right time and not working together as a team. It is okay not to compensate the farmers because there is no money in the treasury. But we must also consider the situation of the country. Considering all these issues, we should give fair compensation to the farmers,” the Minister said. 

Minister Amaraweera said he had presented the facts to the Cabinet about the current situation and President and the Cabinet are of the opinion that compensation should be given to farming.