• Says measures already taken to mitigate burden on consumers 
• China to donate 10,000 MT in April to mark 70 years of Ceylon-China Rubber-Rice Pact
• Rs.31bn home garden drive to kick off in 2-3 weeks

By Nishel Fernando
The government is projecting a 20-25 percent loss in the country’s agricultural output, as a direct result of its ill-thought-out, ambitious organic agriculture drive.

In order to mitigate a potential food crisis and soaring food prices, addressing the weekly Cabinet media briefing in Colombo, yesterday, Co-Cabinet Spokesperson and Plantation Minister Dr. Ramesh Pathirana said that the government has already launched measures to mitigate the burden on consumers.

He revealed that China would donate 10,000 metric tonnes of rice to Sri Lanka by this April to mark the 70th anniversary of the Ceylon-China Rubber-Rice Pact.

In addition, Dr. Pathirana noted that the Rs.31 billion home gardening programme would kick off within the next two to three weeks, where the government would provide an allowance for households for the cultivation of crops in their home gardens. Accordingly, an allowance of Rs.5,000 is to be given for the cultivation of crops in 1,836,266 home gardens of less than 20 perches and an allowance of Rs.10,000 is to be given for cultivation in 2,238,831 home gardens of more than 20 perches but less than an acre.

 The funds are to be utilised for preparation of land for cultivation and to purchase seeds and seedlings. The process will be supervised by the Divisional Secretary, village officials and community leaders.  With food inflation rising by a record 22.1 percent year-on-year (YoY) in December, last year, Dr. Pathirana urged the people to grow vegetables, fruits, spices, potatoes sweet potatoes, etc. in their home gardens to reduce the escalating cost of living by taking advantage of the state-funded home gardening programme.

Commenting on a potential food crisis, he assured the public that the government has taken all necessary measures to avoid such a situation, in particular during the upcoming festive season.