However this cultivation is spread all over the country covering dry zone too. The total land area under Paddy is about 736,000 hectares. It is cultivated during two main cultivation seasons, namely 'Maha' and 'Yala'. Cultivation during Yala is limited to the wet zone and major irrigated areas in the dry zone. Statistics on this crop is compiled for both Maha and Yala seasons.
Average yield is estimated through a sample survey.
Area under cultivation is estimated through complete enumeration. About two dozens of the crops are seasonal in nature. Statistics on the area, yield and production on these crops are compiled through subjective assessment and released seasonally. 1997 Cost of production Cost of production for Tea, Rubber, and Coconut are released annually. The total quantity of food stuffs produced in the country, added to the total quantity imported and adjusted to any change that may have occurred in stocks since the beginning of a given period, is the total food supply in that period.