Record harvest loss, food shortages hit

dry Sri Lanka

Traditional farming practices are difcult to change
COLOM
BO, ! "ugust #!$ %&R&'( ) Sri Lanka*s government is scram+ling to ease
the impact of record harvest losses on millions of farmers as the country
enters its tenth month of an acute dry spell,
&t-s severe, &n some areas in the 'orth, 'orth Central and .astern
/rovinces, the 0ater levels in the irrigation reservoirs 0ill +e sufcient only
for drinking purposes and that, too, 0ill +e +arely enough, 'o harvesting
0ill +e possi+le 1until the ne2t rains3,4 Lalith 5eeratunga, secretary to
/resident Mahinda Ra6apaksa and the country-s top)ranked pu+lic ofcial,
told &R&',
"ccording to 7' Ofce for the Coordination of 8umanitarian "9airs %OC8"(,
more than !,: million people %; percent of the island-s population of around
# million( have +een a9ected +y the drought 0hich is still ravaging !< of
the country-s = districts,
5eeratunga and other government ofcials said they had already put relief
measures in place, including a 7S>!# million plan for cash)for)0ork
programmes for drought)a9ected families,
?inance secretary /unchi Banda @ayasundera said the plan aimed to repair
and renovate irrigation reservoirs and canals using la+our from the more
than !!!,### a9ected families, One mem+er from each family 0ill +e
provided at least ! days of 0ork per month,
5e realiAe that these are short)term measures, +ut they are aimed at
easing the most immediate impacts, 1and3 a9ected communities- income
levels, 5e need to come up 0ith long)term measures that 0ill mitigate the
impact of e2treme 0eather events,4 5eeratunga said
?armers 0ill have an o9 season this time,4 @ayasundera said, adding that
the la+our intervention aimed to +eneBt families that derive much of their
income from agriculture, 0hich makes up around !# percent of the
country-s ><# +illion CD/,
Rice harvest +usted
The country-s rice harvest is likely to +e do0n a+out !E percent from the $
million tons recorded in #!F, 0hich 0ould make it the lo0est in si2 years,
@ayasundera told &R&' that, in anticipation of
price rises, the government eased restrictions
on rice imports in late "pril, This year it plans to
import at least !##,### tons ) around ,=
percent of the #!F harvest,
Rice imports 0ill continue until the harvest
picks up,4 @ayasundera said,
8o0ever, it appears unlikely that crop outputs 0ill improve in the near
future, and not only Sri Lankan consumers +ut also farmers themselves 0ill
rely more heavily on imported food as a result,
The South 5est Monsoon, 0hich hits the island nation +et0een May and
Septem+er and +rings the ma6ority of annual rainfall, has +een +elo0
average this year, prompting losses in Gplanted e2tent- 1cultivated land area
for #!$34, e2plained @, D, M, H, Chandarasiri, director at the 8ector
Ho++ekadu0a "grarian Research &nstitute in Colom+o,
"ccording to government statistics in eight districts severely a9ected +y the
drought %"nuradhapura, /olonnaru0a, 8am+antota, /uttalam, Mannar,
Iauniya, Moneragala and "mpara(, the planted e2tent 0as $ percent
+elo0 0hat 0as recorded in #!F,
We need to set a value
to resources like water,
so that we conserve it
when we have it. When
we dont do that, we see
the results of that
negligence
/hotoJ Amantha Perera/IRIN
Sri Lankan 0omen dig a 0ell to stave o9 parched harvests
Losses are likely to mount +ecause of lack of 0ater,4 Chandrasiri said,
e2plaining that the mid)year planting season relies heavily on irrigated
0ater and his ofce 0as already receiving reports indicating high losses,
The ne2t rains are not e2pected until mid)'ovem+er,
5e are likely to lose a ma6or portion of the mid)year harvesting season,4
secretary 5eeratunga said,
Long)term 0orries
?inance Secretary @ayasundera said the government 0as receiving 0eekly
drought updates from the provinces and 0as prepared to take further action
such as increasing food imports if the need arose, But he also admitted that
the impact of changing climate patterns 0as a ma6or concern for long)term
policy planning,
The impact on people-s livelihoods is our primary concern,4 he said,
.2treme 0eather events are nothing ne0 for Sri Lankan policymakers, Since
##;, the country has faced at least seven ma6or Koods and t0o ma6or
droughts,
5eeratunga said the time had come to look +eyond reactive measures to
tackle natural disasters like drought and Koods,
5e need to set a value to resources like 0ater, so that 0e conserve it 0hen
0e have it, 5hen 0e don-t do that, 0e see the results of that negligence,4
he said,
Covernment interventions to mitigate the impact of Kuctuating rainfall on
the electricity sector could o9er a roadmap for further long)term planning,
"ccording to @ayasundera, a #! drought led the government to spend a
large amount of foreign e2change ) in e2cess of > +illion ) to import
furnace fuel to compensate for the loss of hydropo0er generation capacity,
During years 0hen the rainfall is on a par 0ith average levels, the country
derives =# percent of its po0er needs from hydropo0erL 0hen the rains fail
%such as this year(, that percentage falls, Covernment Bgures put current
hydropo0er generation at 6ust F$ percent,
&n the past, Sri Lanka had imported high)cost
furnace fuel to supplement po0er generation,
8o0ever, @ayasundera e2plained, Sri Lanka has
increased its coal po0er generation capacity to
compensate for unpredicta+le hydro)
generation, "ugust data, for e2ample, sho0ed
the coal component in po0er generation at F! percent, During the same
period in #!, coal po0er generation hovered around != percent,
"ccording to 5eeratunga, planning needs to e2tend to areas such as
agriculture, M5e are looking into planning for future e2treme 0eather
events and their impact,4 he said,
Local challenges, including convincing rice farmers to shift to other crops
such as onions and maAe 0hen the rains fail, remain daunting, e2perts say,
"ccording to Chandarasiri, the agrarian e2pert, Sri Lanka-s rice crop relies
on traditional practices handed do0n through generations that determined
the type of seed, 0ater levels and harvesting patterns, 8arvesting patterns
+ased on scientiBc research 0ere taking time to gain acceptance,
5e have tried to change +ehaviours, +ut it 0ill take a lot more e9ort and
convincing to get farmers to ditch traditional harvesting patterns,4
apNkkNc+
Posted by Thavam
We are looking into
planning for future
extreme weather
events and their
impact