Over 66,000 Farmers Receive Disaster Relief - Dept of Agriculture

COLOMBO (News 1st) - The Department of Agriculture says relief allowances have so far been provided to 66,965 farmers whose crops were damaged due to the recent disaster.

A total of Rs. 4,982 million has been disbursed in compensation, covering 33,215 hectares of paddy land.

The department noted that applications have been received for nearly 50,000 hectares of paddy land, and assured that payments for all approved applications will be completed by tomorrow.

Meanwhile, compensation has also been paid to 16,869 farmers affected in the cultivation of additional food crops, vegetables, and fruits.

Accordingly, Rs. 670 million has been distributed for damages covering 3,708 hectares of such cultivation.

Minister of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development Wasantha Samarasinghe stated that in cases where paddy cultivation is completely destroyed, compensation of Rs. 150,000 per hectare will be provided.