brand logo

Agriculture Ministry to spread home gardening islandwide to ensure national food security

05 Jul 2022

BY Buddhika Samaraweera The Sri Lanka Hadabima Authority (SLHA) has planned to launch a joint home gardening programme with the support of farmers islandwide to ensure national food security ovet the next six months, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. An official of the Agriculture Ministry said that Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Amaraweera has instructed SLHA Chairman Sarath Chandrasiri Withana, to prepare programmes to expand the country’s food production process by utilising the resources of the SLHA, which have been in a somewhat inactive state over the past period. Accordingly, with the aim of ensuring food security in the country within the next six months, he said that it has been planned by the SLHA to establish 5,000 home gardens covering 12 districts, together with the farmers. He added that the technical knowledge required for that would be provided by the field staff of the SLHA. “Under this programme, farmers will be able to buy seeds, saplings, and organic fertilisers from mobile outlets. In addition, the SLHA has planned to launch awareness and training programmes on matters such as home gardening and organic fertiliser production, targeting Government institutions, schools, apartments, and private institutions,” he said. The basic powers assigned to the SLHA, which was established in 1978 as the National Agricultural Crop Diversification and Settlement Authority as per the State Agricultural Corporation Act, No. 11 of 1978, are for agricultural diversification, settlement development, the management of catchment areas, the conservation of the environment and water resources, to obtain the maximum productivity of the lands vested by the Authority, and supplying equipment and machinery and operating them in agricultural diversification and settlement development.


More News..