June 9, 2011

Amid false rumours that there is a scarcity of corn, Sri Lanka's Livestock Development and Rural Community Development Ministry Secretary A. H. Gamage said that there is no poultry feed shortage in the country.

"The annual poultry feed requirement is 35,000 tonnes. Forty percent of this amount is produced by farmers, and the rest is produced by private companies. The Livestock Development Ministry plans to produce animal feed at a low price through the National Livestock Development Board," Gamage said.

The government plans to make the country self-sufficient in corn within two years and has limited imports, Research officers of the Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute said Sri Lanka is over 63% self-sufficient in corn production,' Gamage said.

The Livestock Development and Rural Community Development Ministry requests corn cultivators to inform them about their requirements.