700,000 MT surplus of rice forecast

Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera inquired about the existing rice and paddy stocks from the Agriculture Department as a food review should be done in the country.

The Minister made this inquiry at the review meeting on the upcoming Maha season held with all officials related to the agriculture sector in Kandy Gannoruwa recently.

As indicated by the top officials of the Agriculture Department, 800,000 hectares of paddy fields have been cultivated in the last Maha season. Also, the amount of paddy cultivated in this year’s Yala season is 503,000 hectares.

Accordingly, 1.3 million hectares of paddy fields have been cultivated.

Considering the paddy harvest, a yield of 3.5 to 05 metric tons has been obtained from one hectare. A harvest of 07 to 11 metric tons has also been obtained in several districts.

Accordingly, the average yield of paddy from one hectare can be estimated as four metric tons.

Accordingly, the total paddy harvest of the last Maha season and this year’s Yala season is 5.2 million metric tons. The amount of rice that can be produced is 3.1 million metric tons.

The monthly requirement of rice in this country is 200,000 metric tons. The annual requirement of rice is 2.4 million metric tons. Accordingly, the Agriculture Department emphasized that there is a surplus of 700,000 metric tons of rice in the country.

The officials of the Agriculture Department also emphasized to the Minister that the amount of rice is sufficient until the harvest of this season and there is no need to import rice.

The Minister who expressed his opinion said that 13 types of crops have been planned in the coming season, but the production of rice and maize, chillies and potatoes should be prioritized and cultivation should be carried out. He also emphasized that if there is a surplus of rice, it should be planned how to utilize that surplus of rice.

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