A highly important high level discussion aimed at elevating the Northern Province’s agriculture sector to national standards and resolving the long-standing issues faced by farmers in the province was held today – on Wednesday 25 March 2026, morning at the Governor’s Secretariat under the chairmanship of the Hon. Governor of the Northern Province, N. Vethanayahan.
The discussion, which lasted approximately four hours and was highly productive, was attended by a high-level team led by the National Director General of the Department of Agriculture, Dr. Wickramarachchi, along with officials from the Northern Province Department of Agriculture. The meeting thoroughly examined the current challenges of the provincial agriculture sector, future plans, and policy-level decisions.
Hon. Governor N. Vethanayahan, who inaugurated the discussion with his address, highlighted the unique challenges faced by farmers in the Northern Province.
“Climate change, irregular rainfall, floods, and prolonged droughts have had a massive impact on our farmers’ cropping calendar. In addition, farmers are suffering significant crop losses due to new pest and disease attacks such as the whitefly in coconut and Panama disease in banana. To address this, we must implement integrated pest management using biological control methods. We need to introduce drought-resistant crop varieties and strengthen farmers’ organisations to increase their bargaining power.
Furthermore, we must develop value-added products, cold storage facilities, and agricultural processing zones through public-private partnerships. This can only be achieved through excellent coordination between the national and provincial agriculture departments. This meeting should not remain a mere discussion but must transform into a clear action plan with defined responsibilities and timelines,” the Governor emphasised.
Following this, National Director General of Agriculture Dr. Wickramarachchi stated:
“Our main objective is to bridge the gap between the national agricultural development programme and the provincial programmes. The dedication of the farmers of the Northern Province and the agricultural resources available in the province are immense. In the next phase of appointments to be made to address the staff shortage in the Department of Agriculture, full priority will be given to the Northern and Eastern Provinces. Action will also be taken to fill vacancies on a contract basis to expedite services.”
The Provincial Director then provided a detailed explanation on how to develop agriculture in the North under the national Department of Agriculture’s ‘Eight Pillars’ programme.
In a special presentation made by the Provincial Director of Agriculture – Northern Province, the needs required to improve the livelihood of the 1,49,136 farming families in the province were highlighted.
Specific requests included: Establishing facilities within the province to produce ‘biological control agents’ to combat threats such as Panama disease in banana, wilt disease in betel, Parthenium weed, coconut whitefly, and weedy rice in paddy cultivation, promoting potato cultivation in Jaffna, setting up ‘tissue culture’ laboratories within the province. The gap between the approved cadre and the current staff in service was also pointed out with relevant data.
At the conclusion of the extensive discussion, several key decisions and assurances were given:
Farmers have long faced difficulties in determining a fair guaranteed price and obtaining agricultural insurance for the traditional ‘Aaddakari’ paddy variety, which is widely cultivated in Jaffna and Kilinochchi districts, because the Department of Agriculture has not yet given it an official recommendation. This long-standing issue was examined in depth during the meeting. The Director General assured that immediate positive steps would be taken to recommend ‘Aaddakari’ as a ‘regional paddy variety’.
Discussions were held on fully operationalising a ‘Plant Quarantine Office’ centred at Palaly International Airport and Kankesanthurai Harbour to promote exports from the Northern Province and control disease outbreaks. It was decided to implement strict monitoring in collaboration with customs officials and improve facilities to issue certificates more easily to exporters, as there is a risk of dangerous diseases such as Panama disease spreading through banana suckers imported from other countries (especially India).
To eliminate the current situation where seeds from the North have to be sent to the South for certification and farmers must wait for months, it was decided to take steps to quickly establish small ‘seed testing laboratories’ within the Northern Province.
Policy-level discussions were also held on expanding diploma courses at the Paranthan and Vavuniya Agricultural Colleges to attract youth into agriculture, simplifying 4% low-interest loan schemes for young farmers, and allocating unused government lands for youth agricultural enterprises.
Strict instructions were issued to relevant authorities to severely curb the sale of unauthorised and expired agricultural chemicals in the market and to immediately cancel the registrations of businesses involved in such activities.
The discussion was attended by Chief Secretary of the Northern Province, Secretary to the Governor of the Northern Province, Secretary of the Provincial Ministry of Agriculture, Northern Province, Provincial Director of Agriculture, Northern Province, Additional Director of Agriculture, District Deputy Directors and District Directors of Agriculture.
