Cabinet approval has been granted to institute a cost of living committee at the Ministry of Agriculture that will see the participation of other stakeholders in order to attain self-sufficiency by 2022 through the National Food Production Program, Dr Bandula Gunawardena, cabinet spokesperson said today.
He said that although a similar program was implemented from 2016 to 2018 to ensure food security, the expected goals could not be achieved due to lack of sufficient provisions as well as unexpected changes in whether conditions.
The Cabinet has granted approval for a proposal submitted by the Minister of Mahaweli, Agriculture, Irrigation and Rural Development for the implementation of crop production and enhancing productivity, minimizing post harvest damage, introduction of value added new productions, research and development, as well as popularizing environment friendly agriculture through use of traditional knowledge. These would take the form of cluster village ‘Saubhagya’ at regional and provincial level from this year until 2022.