National the weedy paddy control week

The National the weedy paddy Control Week, organized by the Department of Agriculture, is scheduled to take place island-wide from June 23 to 27, 2025.

The national program officially launched this morning (June 24) at the Alagama 2 Ela paddy field in Polpithigama, within the Hakwatunawa Agricultural Division.

Currently, the The weedy paddy  menace is observed in all paddy cultivating areas of Sri Lanka. It poses a severe threat to rice cultivation, especially in the districts of Ampara, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Vavuniya, Galle, Hambantota, Matara, Polonnaruwa, Anuradhapura, Kurunegala, and Puttalam. If immediate attention is not given to wild rice control, it could adversely impact rice yield and quality, potentially leading to issues with the country's food security. Therefore, the Department of Agriculture has planned this The weedy paddy  Control Promotion Week from June 23-27, covering the entire island, to draw farmers' urgent attention to controlling wild rice.

Several factors contribute to the rapid spread of wild rice. These include improper land preparation, the use of The weedy paddy contaminated seed paddy, the widespread use of broadcasting methods for sowing, fallow paddy fields, water scarcity for paddy cultivation, the spread of wild rice through agricultural machinery and harvesting equipment, the difficulty for farmers to identify wild rice (e.g., mistaking it for traditional rice varieties and neglecting control measures), and the current lack of suitable herbicides for wild rice control.

The Department of Agriculture, in collaboration with Provincial Departments of Agriculture and the Mahaweli Authority, will work to accurately identify the weedy paddy and educate farmers on the integrated wild rice control package introduced by the Department of Agriculture.