Rs. 3,000 million has been allocated to urgently pay agricultural insurance compensation for crops affected by drought under the El Nino condition.
It has been reported that paddy, maize and other cultivations have suffered damage due to the prevailing dry weather conditions in districts such as Moneragala, Polonnaruwa, Hambantota, Anuradhapura and Ampara.
It has already been identified that, with regard to paddy cultivation, approximately 8,000 acres of farmland belonging to about 7,000 farmers in the districts affected under this situation have been damaged, including 1,401 acres in Moneragala, 1,259 acres in Polonnaruwa, 783 acres in Hambantota, 1,055 acres in Ampara and 1,923 acres in Anuradhapura.
The government has allocated a sum of 3,000 million rupees for the payment of compensation for these crop damages. Teams currently comprising field officers of the Agricultural and Agrarian Insurance Board and Agricultural Research and Production Assistants of the Department of Agrarian Development, are visiting the cultivated lands in the districts affected by the dry weather conditions and carrying out damage assessments.
The government aims to swiftly release the compensation for the damaged cultivations before the next cultivation season in order to provide relief to farmers. Accordingly, Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation has instructed that compensation payments for paddy fields damaged under this situation be expedited. In this regard, compensation will be paid for six crops such as paddy, maize, big onion, potato, soybean and chili that have been damaged at a rate of Rs. 100,000 per hectare, up to a maximum of 5 acres.
Farmers who have not yet reported their damage should, as soon as possible, meet with the Agricultural Research and Production Assistants of the Department of Agrarian Development or the Development/Field Officers of the Agricultural and Agrarian Insurance Board to report their damage or record the crop damage in the damage notification book maintained at the Agrarian Development Centers. If further details are required in this regard, farmers can obtain the necessary information by calling the Agricultural and Agrarian Insurance Board’s short code, 1918.
