News
Army comes to country’s rescue by successfully cultivating maize to obtain required corn seed
By Ifham Nizam
The Army has successfully cultivated more than 100 acres with maize on the Polonnaruwa Kandakadu farm to obtain seeds for the next Maha Season cultivation.
When Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera visited the Kandakadu farm last Saturday, Army officers said urea was necessary to ensure a good yield.
The Minister instructed Ministry Secretary Rohana Pushpakumara to make urea available.
The Kandakadu farm encompasses about 1000 acres, of which the Ministry of Agriculture has decided to hand over 3,000 acres to the Sri Lankan Army for the cultivation of maize during the next season. In addition, the Rehabilitation Authority has provided 250 acres for maize cultivation by using the labour of the Army camp, run near the Kandakadu farm.
The Kandakadu Army Camp has also started a successful chili cultivation of about 100 acres.
The Ministry of Agriculture has planned to plant maize for animal feed on 60,000 hectares of land next Maha season. But the current problem is that there are not enough maize seeds. Currently, the amount of maize seeds is enough for only 50,000 hectares.
Therefore, the Minister expressed his gratitude to the officials for cultivating 100 acres of maize to obtain corn seeds required for the cultivation of the Maha season.
The shortage of animal feed has now severely affected the poultry and dairy industries. According to the current situation, it is not possible to import the raw materials required for animal feed products such as maize and sorghum, for want of foreign exchange. Therefore a plan is underway to increase the production of corn for animal feed by cultivating 60,000 hectares of maize during the next crop season.
“If we do not take the necessary measures to produce maize and other animal feed, next year the price of eggs and chicken meat in the Sri Lankan market will rise exponentially. Therefore, our goal is to produce at least 75 percent of the 400,000 tonnes of maize we need annually,” the Minister said.
The Minister also said that steps had been taken to hand over all the lands owned by the government to the Army for cultivation of food crops.
The Cabinet of Ministers granted their concurrence to the resolution furnished by the Minister of Youth Affairs to appoint S. Achchudan of Special Grade of Sri Lanka Administrative Service, who is currently serving as an Additional Commissioner of Elections at the Elections Commission who is
recommended by the panel of interviewers to the post of Director General of the Sports Development Department with effect form 01.01.2026.
The Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the proposal furnished by the Minister of Environment to publish the draft bill of the National Environment (Amended) Act in the government gazette notification and subsequently to submit the same to the Parliament for its concurrence.
The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Buddhism, Religious, and Cultural Affairs to provide tax relief on imported dates received as donations or gift for Ramadan.
This year’s Ramadan fasting season is scheduled to begin on 19-02-2026 and end on 21-03-2026.
Shafali, Renuka close in on top five in ICC T20I rankings
S. Achchudan appointed as Director General of the Sports Development Department.
Amendment of the National Environment Act No. 47 of 1980
Tax relief for Dates received as donations or gifts for Ramadan
Cabinet nod to establish the Sri Lanka Industrial Transformation and innovation Authority
Temporary employment of Sri Lankan labour in the State of Israel
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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