These funds were received following a request made by him to the President at the review meeting held yesterday at the Agriculture Ministry, he added.

The SCIAP, which is being implemented on foreign funds under the Agriculture and Plantation Industries Ministry, is scheduled to end by August this year.

Minister Amaraweera said that the spending of the USD 25 million allocated for this year should be started immediately and that attention should also be paid to the reconstruction of lakes in the respective districts as well as the provision of new agricultural technical equipment.