Kegalle District Secretary further stated that cultivation of traditional local paddy has been already commenced in several Agrarian Divisions in Kegalle and that it is a praiseworthy effort and that traditional local  paddy varieties such as ‘Ran Kahawanu’ and ‘Pachcha Perumal’ have been cultivated in 25 acres in Dedigama Agrarian Division and ‘Suwadel ’ and ‘Pachcha Perumal ’ have been cultivated in 20 acres in Deliwala Agrarian Division.Further,Kegalle District Secretary revealed that seeds of 52 traditional  local paddy varieties have been distributed among 55 paddy farmers in Kegalle district.

In addition, Kegalle District Secretary, Thusitha P.Wanigasinghe has instructed the Officials of the Department of Agrarian Development that prompt action be taken to cultivate traditional local paddy at least in 250 acres in Kegalle district in the Yala season in 2014.(KH)