Use of Traditional Paddy Cultivation as a Means of Climate Change Adaptation in Sri Lanka

By Chatura Rodrigo
IPS Researcher

Paddy occupies approximately 37 per cent (0.77 million ha) of the cultivated land area of Sri Lanka.     It is cultivated during two major seasons; Yala and Maha, where a majority is cultivated during the latter. Close to 1.8 million farm families are dependent on paddy farming throughout the country. The demand for paddy in Sri Lanka will increase at a rate of 1.1 per cent per year, which requires production also to increase at a rate of 2.9 per cent per year. Therefore not only is paddy the staple food of the country, but its cultivation is the livelihood of a significant portion of people (DSC, 2013). 

The ‘green revolution’ of the early 1960s, supported by agricultural policies such as fertilizer subsidies, placed Sri Lanka on the fast track to becoming a production economy. With subsidized fertilizer and the establishment of irrigation schemes, farmers were given the motivation to be more production oriented. These heavy production agricultural methods in the paddy sector were supported by the new and improved high yielding varieties. Even though these new improved paddy varieties were short termed and high yielding, they were chemical fertilizer and labour intensive and posed a negative externality to the environment (Wiggins and Brooks, 2010). Most importantly, these new improved production incentive paddy varieties and agricultural practices were not resilient towards climate change impacts.

Traditional Rice Farming in Sri Lanka: Still Viable with Climate Change

By P.B. Dharmasena

Former Deputy Director -  Field Crops Research and Development Institute, Mahailluppallama, Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has experienced many changes over the last century which has had a significant impact on traditional rice farming in the country. A change in the climate can be seen as the island has faced a reduction of rainfall and an increase in air temperature in certain areas of the country. Furthermore, land used for vegetation has been put to other uses resulting in a loss of 50 per cent of forest cover. The population has also increased by 15 million in a land area of 6.54 million hectares over the last 60 years. Occurrence of natural disasters such as droughts, floods, cyclones, landslides, epidemics, etc., has made life difficult for people to go about with their activities. Traditional sustainable agriculture shifting towards modern technology-intensive mode is partly to be blamed for these natural disasters.