Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera has instructed the Department of Agrarian Development to take over 14,000 acres of barren paddy fields in 2023 in order to cultivate them.

Accordingly, it has been decided to take over and cultivate 14,000 acres including 2,774 acres of paddy fields that have not been cultivated for five years in Matale, Nuwara Eliya, Vavuniya, Kurunegala, Mannar, Puttalam, Badulla and Monaragala Districts and 11,256 acres of paddy fields selected from other districts.

Minister Amaraweera said their objective is to ensure that there are no barren fields in these districts by the end of 2023.