Official government statistics reveal that paddy production slid by 35 percent in the third quarter of this year, in comparison with the same time-frame last year.

The Department of Census and Statistics notes that the area of paddy fields cultivated in the Yala season in 2014, was 26.8 percent less than the area cultivated in the 2013 Yala season.

Furthermore, the area of harvested paddy fields had also dipped by 30.3 percent.The Department adds that the decline in the harvest in the main paddy growing districts of Ampara, Polonnaruwa, Anuradhapura, Batticaloa, Hambantota and Trincomalee, contributed to the shortfall.

This was brought on by the drought experienced in these areas in the first few months of the year. The heavy rainfall being experienced at present, has also affected the paddy harvest.