Rs. 3 b spent annually for maize import

Monday, 12 October 2020 00:30 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

State Minister Siripala Gamalath says large sum of foreign exchange could be saved by producing our own food locally at the launch of the national program of growing maize
Maize to be grown in 10,000 hectares in the Mahaweli Zones

A program to grow 10,000 hectares of maize in the Mahaweli Zone was launched from Mahaweli Zone L recently.

The program began under the guidance of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and on the direction of Irrigation Minister Chamal Rajapaksa and under the patronage of Mahaweli Zones Canals, Settlements and Public Infrastructure Development State Minister Siripala Gamalath.

The official launch to mark the program was held at Weli Oya, Ethawetuna Wewa and Nika Wewa in the Mahaweli L Zone.

Accordingly, 3,000 acres of maize to be cultivated only in the Mahaweli L Zone.

The annual demand for maize in this country is around 500,000 metric tons. Half of the demand or 250,000 metric tons of the cereal is grown locally while the rest of the requirement is imported by spending Rs. 3,000 million. Drawing his attention to the huge foreign exchange that drained to foreign countries, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has proposed an alternative; that is, to cultivate the country needs locally.

State Minister Siripala Gamalath said that steps were taken to cultivate 10,000 hectares of maize in 10 Mahaweli Zones, accordingly.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is keen to distribute Mahaweli agricultural lands among the prospective farmers under a concessionary leasing system thereby encouraging the local farmers to grow maize to meet the demand with their harvest.

The Mahaweli Authority is ready to foot half of the bill of necessary quality seeds in this regard. In addition, State and private sector institutions will be encouraged to buy the harvest from the farmers. A kilogram of maize seeds is currently bought at Rs. 90 in the market. The import of 16 non-essential crops has been suspended already as they could be cultivated locally and maize is one of them.

State Minister Siripala Gamalath said, in addition to maize, priority has been given to grow other food crops in the Mahaweli Zones.

Mahaweli Authority Director General and Engineer Sunil S. Perera, Mahaweli Agriculture Director Neville Rajapaksa, Residential Business Manager of Mahaweli L Zone R.B.K.M. Randeniya, and a group of farmers of Mahaweli L Zone participated in the event.