At a meeting held at the Ministry of Agriculture and Plantation Industries last Friday (15), under the patronage of Minister Mahinda Amaraweera, it was decided to implement a 500-hectare Keeri Samba (KS) special project for this Yala season.
This project will be jointly implemented by the Paddy Marketing Board, the Department of Agrarian Development and the Farmers’ Trust Fund, in areas where KS is not cultivated.
Accordingly, 500 hectares of selected paddy fields in the Hambantota District and the Udawalawa Mahaweli Zone in the Ratnapura District will be cultivated and free facilities including seed paddy, will be provided to the selected farmers for its cultivation. This cultivation project will be implemented as a model project of KS, using parachute technology, while the application of insecticides, herbicides and fertilisers will be done using drone technology.
The Minister mentioned that this project is being started due to the success of 100 acres of KS cultivation in the Matigathwala area of Agunakolapalassa. Currently, more farmers are cultivating red paddy varieties due to the abundance of that paddy and it is difficult for them to sell it as an alternative. He also mentioned that Keeri will focus on Samba cultivation.
The Minister added that there is a high price for KS in the local market and it is auspicious that the decision of the prices is in the hands of the farmers.
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