The Moragahakanda-Kaluganga Mahaweli “F” Zone has been declared as a sustainable development area for organic agriculture by Mahaweli, Agriculture, Irrigation and Rural Development Minister Chamal Rajapaksa.

The Minister has made the Order under Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka Act No. 23 of 1979 in concurrence with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

The sustainable development area has been declared with the objective to promote organic vegetable crops, fruit crops, and other field crops in this area as a green organic zone, free from the use of agrochemicals and pesticides.

The organic agriculture program will be implemented under a public and private partnership to supply the direct and value-added certified organic products to local and foreign markets from this zone. The products will be supplied to the local and foreign markets under the brand of ‘Mahaweli Knuckles Organic Products’.

Among the objectives of the program are to ensure sustainable usage of soil through soil conservation methods of setting stone bunds and biological hedges, etc.; and to promote water conservation in farming for the preservation of irrigated water and its efficient use.

The other objectives of the program are to promote integrated farming system by integrating poultry, cattle, goat and pasture cultivation to ensure food & nutritional security of the farmer families living in this zone and to promote the manufacturing of organic fertilizer; to promote the cultivation of vegetable crops and under-utilized fruit crops in home gardens of these farmer families and thereby Conservation such crops from their nonexistence and encourage bee keeping and to promote integrated pest management practices without using agro chemicals to control such pests and diseases affecting organic cultivation.

The organic crop cultivation zone will also be developed as an agro-tourism and a model zone where knowledge about organic plants can be gained.

No permit shall be granted to maintain the outlets in this zone which sell pesticides and weedicides and irrigation water from this zone will not be provided for any industrial activities without special permission.