The government has allocated Rs. 3,000 million — Rs. 3 billion — to pay immediate insurance compensation to farmers whose crops have been destroyed by the dry weather gripping much of the island, Ada Derana reported on Tuesday.
The damage, attributed to the ongoing El Niño, has hit paddy, maize and other cultivations in Monaragala, Polonnaruwa, Hambantota, Anuradhapura and Ampara. Roughly 8,000 acres belonging to nearly 7,000 farmers have been affected on the figures reported so far.
Where the paddy losses fall
Ada Derana gave a district breakdown for paddy alone: 1,923 acres in Anuradhapura, 1,401 in Monaragala, 1,259 in Polonnaruwa, 1,055 in Ampara and 783 in Hambantota. Those total 6,421 acres, leaving roughly 1,600 of the reported 8,000 to maize and other crops — consistent with the headline figure.
The loss has widened sharply in under a week. When compensation was first fast-tracked on August 19, the Agricultural and Agrarian Insurance Board put the damage at 6,073 acres of paddy across 4,707 farmers in the same five districts. The farmer count has since risen by roughly 2,300.
One district moves against that trend. The August 19 report gave Anuradhapura as 2,200 acres, the largest share; Tuesday’s paddy figure for the district is 1,923 acres, about 277 lower, while every other district rose. Ada Derana did not explain the reduction.
What farmers can claim
Compensation is set at Rs. 100,000 per hectare for six designated crops — paddy, maize, big onion, potato, soybean and chilli — subject to a maximum of five acres per farmer. As in the earlier announcement, the rate is stated in hectares while the cap is in acres, and the reports do not reconcile the two units.
Assessment has been accelerated on the instructions of the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation. Insurance Board field officers, working with Agriculture Research and Production Assistants from the Department of Agrarian Development, are now inspecting affected land.
Farmers who have not yet reported losses should record details in the crop damage registers at Agrarian Development Centres, or notify their local field officer. The Board’s hotline is 1918.
The allocation lands as the Meteorology Department calls this El Niño the strongest in 75 years heading into the Maha season, with reservoirs under pressure and record temperatures this month.
As of Tuesday morning, no other verified Sri Lankan newsroom had published its own report of the Rs. 3 billion allocation.
