Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture Zaha Waheed says government has decided to release land plots for agriculture without charging rent for three years.
Addressing the media at Dharubaaruge, Minister said government is working on different agricultural initiatives to guarantee food security amid the Covid-19 crisis that has been depleting the country’s food sources.
Minister said Government has already decided to lease out land plots from Islands as per availability for farming without charging any rent for three years.
Zaha acknowledged that there were gaps in providing statistics on agriculture in the country. But she noted that Island councils now should be able issue statistics of agricultural activity carried out in the land plots released under their authority.
Minister said authorities would develop a mechanism to ensure that agricultural activity continues in the plots released for the purpose. Zaha assured that the government will not stop at just releasing land plots but will work to ensure end product and productivity from these plots by delivering 25 percent of foodstuff from these lands to these islands.
Meanwhile, speaking at the same briefing Economic Minister Fayyaz Ismail said government authorities have identified 44 islands that can be used for agriculture. He also said these opportunities were available for other islands upon request.
With food security identified as a key worry in the aftermath of a massive outbreak of Covid-19 in Maldives, State Trading Organization STO had earlier announced that it would be buying agricultural produce directly from the farmers starting next May. STO had said that it was working on establishing an AgriCenter for this purpose at Male’ North Harbor area.
