Paddy production increases

Paddy production has increased by 26 percent due to the success of the national cultivation drive. The growth in the Agri-economy sector has exceeded by 4.5 percent, the data from the Department of Census and Statistics indicated.

Minister Maithripala Sirisena said a report of the Department of Census and Statistics last month revealed that agriculture had recorded a growth of 4.5 percent. The cultivation drive was launched in 2007 to overcome the world food crisis. Many imports have been limited. It is expected to curtail the food imports by 2011.