The Ministry of Agriculture is planning to lower the land size requirement for obtaining ammunition permits in a bid to mitigate crop damage caused by wild animals. Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Amaraweera has directed the Ministry Secretary to prepare a Cabinet paper to seek approval for reducing the current limit from 5 acres to 2 acres.

This proposal comes in response to the struggles faced by farmers in the Kegalle and Kandy districts, who informed significant crop losses due to wild animal incursions. Farmers, who once harvested around 800 coconuts, now find it difficult to gather even 100. The reduction in the acreage limit for ammunition permits aims to provide these farmers with better means to protect their crops.