The head office of the Seed Certification Service of the Department of Agriculture is opened.
The head office of the Seed Certification Service of the Department of Agriculture was vested in the public on the 27th by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation, Mr. K.D. Lal Kantha.
Since it has been built in the Gannoruwa agricultural zone, the public can benefit from it more easily. This two-storey building carries out all seed research activities and provides a range of services, including reports on seed quality.
The Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Namal Karunaratne and a number of officials, including the Director General of the Department of Agriculture, Thushara Wickramaarachchi, attended the event.
The Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation, K.D. Lal Kantha, who attended the event, addressed the gathering and expressed the following views.
“What was opened today is something like the heart of the Department of Agriculture. It is a pleasure to be involved in such work. We are now self-sufficient in rice. The Department of Agriculture, Department of Agrarian Development and other institutions have come together and planned a programme, taking the present situation into account. In addition, the “Yaya 500” programme is being implemented. It has now been expanded to “Yaya 1,000”. Our target is to implement it up to “Yaya 5,000”.
We have started a brand-new initiative: a programme using third-generation and fourth-generation fertilizers. This is because we faced the criticism that only basic fertilizers have ever been used.
We are working as a government to strengthen the public service. We hope to make the government service efficient and turn it into a service that earns the public’s praise. We are also taking steps to improve the welfare of public servants including salary hike.
Within the chain of agriculture, seeds are the root. Only if that is strong everything else will be strong. We must be grateful to everyone who contributed to this.”
