Fifty thousand farmer families affected by the drought: Minister

Some 50,000 farmer families have been affected by the current drought situation, Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said yesterday.  However he said there is no threat to food security at the moment.  

  He said around 30,00 paddy farmer families and other families who are engaged in cultivating other crops have been affected by the drought. “Those who are in Mahawali areas and those who plant crops in the vicinity of Chandrika wewa are the ones who are mostly affected,” the Minister said.   

“However it is unlikely that there would be a scarcity of food including rice if the expected harvest is received from the Yala season,” he added.   

“We don’t intend to import rice at any cost. There are no places from which we could import rice. India has already banned exportation of rice while Pakistan also expected to follow through. No country is willing to export rice as they are making arrangements to stock food crops as the world is on the verge of a food scarcity,” he stressed.