Growth in paddy cultivation in East

Paddy cultivation in the Eastern Province has increased by 20 per cent this year following the eradication of terrorism in the region, according to Eastern Provincial Minister M. L. A. M. Hisbullah.Minister Hisbullah was addressing a media briefing held at the Mahaweli Centre, Colombo to explain the progress made in the agricultural sector, following the wiping out of terrorism in the region.Minister Hisbullah said, "from the post-independent era, the Eastern region remained the granary of the country.

However, for the past 30 years, the areas where paddy was cultivated in the East, had been devastated by war.

"A large number of paddy fields had turned into barren land as the farmers were compelled to give up cultivation due to the threats they faced. Irrigation facilities were neglected. But now, the situation has improved significantly".

For the first time after 1976, cultivation was carried out on 131,000 acres of land this year and a bumper harvest recorded.Hisbullah said it is with the efforts made by President Mahinda Rajapaksa soon after the end of the war, that agricultural activities have been revived, resulting in an increase in paddy production.

Apart from the agricultural sector, road construction and other infrastructure programs have also come up in the region, he said.