Compensation for El Niño crop damage to be expedited from next week

I.U.K. Kaluarachchi, Director General of the Agricultural and Agrarian Insurance Board, announced that compensation payments for crop damage caused by the prevailing El Niño conditions will be expedited from next week.

Kaluarachchi made the remarks today (04) at a media briefing at the Department of Government Information on the El Niño phenomenon and its potential impact on Sri Lanka.

He said compensation payments will commence in the Polonnaruwa District, with arrangements in place to complete payments for all reported crop damage within two weeks. The Agricultural and Agrarian Insurance Board will be responsible for carrying out the compensation payment process.

Kaluarachchi made a special appeal to the farming community to carry out cultivation during the upcoming Maha season in accordance with the cultivation schedules and instructions issued for their respective areas by the Agricultural and Agrarian Insurance Board, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Agrarian Development, the Mahaweli Authority and the Irrigation Department.

He stressed that compensation for crop damage will be paid only for lands cultivated in accordance with the approved cultivation schedules. Relevant departments will provide farmers with cultivation advice based on available data and prevailing conditions, he added.

According to data from the Board, the 2026 Yala season recorded a favourable harvest and was the season with the lowest crop damage reported over the past five years.

Crop damage covering between 8,000 and 8,500 acres has been reported, with relatively minor damage recorded mainly in the districts of Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Monaragala and Puttalam.

Kaluarachchi further noted that Rs. 3,000 million had been allocated in the previous Budget for compensation payments for crop damage and said that the funds currently available are sufficient to address the prevailing situation.