The 59th New Rice Festival was held at the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi
The annually held New Rice Festival was celebrated for the 59th time today (09th) at the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi, under the patronage of Hon. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. The New Rice Festival, held while preserving tradition without breaking any customs and rituals, reflects the gratitude of the farming community. The National New Rice Festival is held with the aim of expressing gratitude to nature and the Triple Gem for supporting the continuation of agriculture, while seeking blessings for the upcoming cultivation season.
Participating in this event, Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation, K.D. Lalkantha expressed his views.
We had a good harvest during the Yala season. Agriculture always faces challenges, specially the weather. We have to battle with the weather. The problem of wild animals is a challenge we face. These problems do not come to an end. Agriculture is always a challenging industry.
Just as the Maha season was beginning, Cyclone Ditwah hit us. At that point, we were afraid that our food security would be threatened and that the livelihoods of our farming community would be disrupted. I am happy to say that our farming community, our Ministry of Agriculture, and state officials faced that challenge well, thanks to the guidance and intervention of our President. Agriculture was the sector most affected by Ditwah. In this regard, special gratitude must be extended to the farming community. It is because of them that we were able to overcome this challenge successfully.
Now we are facing a fuel problem. It is not a problem we anticipated. It is not a problem of our country either. The fuel problem arose during the harvest season. Because of that, we had to prepare programs to address it.
We made arrangements to provide 15 liters of fuel per acre. A total of 15 liters are provided for harvesting, another 15 liters are provided for land preparation. Because of that, we were able to manage the fuel problem.
I would like to say something that we do not often talk about at this moment. When we speak of upgrading the farming community and agriculture, we talk about the government, the ministry, and the departments. Similarly, the contribution made by our general public towards agriculture is immense. Tax money from the general public is used for fertilizer subsidies and irrigation systems to uplift agriculture. Because of that, the farming community also has a responsibility to maintain respect towards the general public. There is usually little discussion about it.
Thank you to everyone who dedicated themselves to making the New Rice Festival a success.
Many officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation and related institutions participated in this event.
