- it has been observed that Sri Lanka has achieved self-sufficiency in rice under the local food production drive 'Api Wawamu - Rata Nagamu' and the annual paddy production is expected to exceed 04 million metric tons which is higher than the country's annual rice requirement. With the view to achieving self-sufficiency in supplementary food crops and saving foreign exchange spent on imports, the proposal made by Hon. Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, Minister of Agriculture, to utilize 35% of paddy land during the 2014 Yala Season, for the cultivation of supplementary food crops such as big onions, red onions, potatoes, chillies, maize, green gram, soya bean, cowpea etc. and to encourage farmers in that regard by the provision of infrastructure facilities such as fertilizer subsidy, loans at concessional interest rates and introduction of high yielding varieties etc., was approved by the Cabinet.