Lands belonging to religious establishments to be utilised to cultivate food crops

The government has decided to utilise 250,000 hectares of cultivatable land belonging to religious establishments to cultivate food crops under the national food production programme themed ‘Ekwa Wawamu – Rata Dinawamu’ as a speedy solution to the looming food crisis.

Presenting a joint Cabinet Memorandum, the Minister of Public Administration, Home Affairs,Provincial Councils and Local Government Dinesh Gunawardene, the Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Wildlife and Forest Resources Conservation Mahinda Amaraweera and the Minister of Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs Vidura Wickramanayaka sought the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers on Monday to launch the national food production programme by utilising approximately 250,000 hectares under the possession of Buddhist temples and other religious sites, churches, mosques and Hindu shrines.

“The entire programme is scheduled to be implemented with the technical contribution of the Department of Agriculture and Provincial Departments of Agriculture while the coordination of the programme will be supervised by the Ministry of Agriculture,” the Department of Government Information said.

The government has rolled out several initiatives under the national food production programme to accelerate food crop production throughout the island with the utilisation of State-owned and private lands.

Last week, the government announced plans to lease 14,000 acres of reserved lands belonging to the Sri Lanka Railway Department (SLRD) to farmer societies to grow food crops.