Pest attacks destroy over 40,000 acres of paddy fields

Colombo (News 1st) - The Agricultural and Agrarian Insurance Board states that over 40,000 acres of paddy land have been destroyed due to pests. The Director General of the Board, Panduka Weerasinghe stated that these mites pose a threat to further lands. He further noted that a majority of the paddy lands destroyed have been reported from Polonnaruwa area with the figure standing at over 30,000 acres. The Director-General stated that there is no method of compensation established for the farmers who go through pest attacks which leads to the destruction of their paddy lands. He highlighted, taking into account the amount of destruction on the lands of paddy farmers, steps to install a method of compensation would be taken soon.