The Hon. K.D. Lal Kantha - Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, the Hon. Member is not in the House at this time. I table the answer.

¶ 02 Answer tabled.

¶ 03 Vaddakkachchi Agriculture School and Farm function under the Northern Provincial Ministry of Agriculture, Agrarian Services, Fisheries, Irrigation, Water Supply and Environment. Therefore, the central Department/Ministry of Agriculture does not hold primary land or other data. Based on information obtained from the Northern Province Chief Secretary and the Civil Security Department, I state:

¶ 04 1. The total land extent of the Farm is said to be 441 acres per letter No. NP/31/03/VF/2026 dated 2026.03.20 of the Secretary, Northern Province Ministry of Agriculture (Annex 01-1). It is not disaggregated as paddy/upland. As at 2026.03.10, 45 acres functioned as a District Agriculture Centre; with a further 7 acres released by the Army on 2026.03.11, 52 acres are under the Northern Provincial Department of Agriculture. As per the Civil Security Department, 150 acres of paddy and 15 acres of upland (total 165 acres) are under its purview. Thus, 52 + 165 = 271 acres are presently identifiable.

¶ 05 2. The 7 acres previously used by the Army were released from Army control on 2026.03.11 and handed to the Northern Provincial Department of Agriculture.

¶ 06 According to the Civil Security Department, 150 acres of paddy and 15 acres of upland are under their use, allocated with the Divisional Secretary’s consent, to be returned upon request by the Divisional Secretary, as per the Secretary, Ministry of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs, letter dated 2026.01.07 (Annex 02).

¶ 07 Accordingly, for the Northern Provincial Department of Agriculture to implement its development programme, steps should be taken by the Civil Security Department, Ministry of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs, Northern Provincial Department of Agriculture, Northern Province Director of Agriculture, District Secretary – Kilinochchi, and Divisional Secretary – Kilinochchi to free the 165 acres used by the Civil Security Department.

¶ 08 3. Proposed programmes to operationalise 416 acres have been submitted to the Northern Province Chief Secretary for approval and funding per letter No. NP/25/02/02/007/(2-3) dated 2026.03.19 (Annex 01-11). This will create employment and income.

¶ 09 4. Yes.

¶ 10 On varietal development and research: breeding, technology improvement, and infrastructure upgrades are ongoing. Research institutions under the Department of Agriculture (Rice; Field Crops; Fruit Crops; Horticulture) and affiliated institutes have developed numerous varieties and technologies (Annex 03).

¶ 11 New animal breed discovery is long and foreign exchange intensive; currently, such discovery research is not undertaken. Instead, the Department of Animal Production and Health improves genetic potential via production/import of high-quality bovine semen to enhance national herds. Details on synthetic breed creation, genetic upgrading and imports are in Annex 04 and Annex 05.