Samba, Keeri Samba shortage likely: Minister

• There will be no shortage in red rice and Nadu rice, if destroyed paddy lands re-cultivated 

By Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera 

There could be a shortage in Samba and Keeri Samba rice in the country due to the devastation caused to paddy cultivation by the Ditwah cyclone, Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe said yesterday. 

He told Parliament that, however, there will be no shortage in red rice and Nadu rice if the destroyed paddy lands were cultivated. 

The Minister said Samba and Keeri Samba take four months, adding that it is not possible to find three and a half months paddy seeds of Samba and Keeri Samba for re-cultivation. 

He said other crop cultivations such as groundnuts, maize and green chilli have also been destroyed, pointing out that 2,011 hectares of groundnuts, 10,000 hectares of maize and 1,188 hectares of green chilli are among the cultivations destroyed. 

He said some crops, such as maze, cannot be re-cultivated.