Recent flooding has devastated Sri Lanka’s agricultural sector, destroying more than 100,000 hectares of rice paddies and thousands of hectares of vegetables and maize, new data from the Department of Agriculture compiled with support from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) shows.
Detailed analysis and maps show that several major agricultural districts, including Batticaloa, Anuradhapura, Puttalam, and Polonnaruwa, experienced near-total flooding, with over 75% of paddy lands affected in some areas.
In Trincomalee and Batticaloa alone, around 58,340 hectares of paddy fields were damaged.
The FAO said the losses threaten livelihoods, national food production, and household food security, particularly for smallholder farmers who depend heavily on seasonal harvests.
The damage comes during the critical Maha cultivation season, further exacerbating risks to food supply.
FAO officials are working closely with Sri Lankan authorities to assess the full scale of the damage, prioritize emergency assistance, and support recovery and rehabilitation efforts.
The organization has also begun direct outreach to nearly 5,000 farmers and fishers to better understand the losses and provide targeted support for restoring their livelihoods.
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