The Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, M.P.N.M. Wickramasinghe, announced plans to reduce maize imports to 150,000 metric tons next year, down from the current annual import of 300,000 metric tons.
This reduction is part of an effort to curb the significant outflow of foreign exchange spent on maize imports. To achieve this, the Ministry aims to boost domestic maize production, with an increase in cultivated land already underway this year.
Wickramasinghe further stated that a program is being developed to produce the necessary seeds locally, reducing dependency on imported seeds.
