An identification of the reasons for paddy cultivation progress in Sri Lanka in past three decades A study with Institute of paddy research - Bathalagoda

Abstract

Rice was the staple diet of Sri Lankans from the earliest historical times. Non perennial streams flowing across the North-western and South-eastern plains in the Dry Zone were harnessed by building hydraulic structures from pre-Christian times. Many rulers built anicuts, weirs, dams and reservoirs to conserve the water supply received in Maha, the major rainy season in the Dry Zone, from October to February. The other cultivation season, Yala, is from March to August. According to previous information in the early 1960s the paddy yield had been very low due to several physical and relevant agricultural policies. But after two decades the paddy yield has started to increase gradually. In the 1990s it has increased to nearly a selfsufficient level of the rice requirement in the country. This study has tried to find out the positive and negative issues for paddy harvest and paddy cultivation in Sri Lanka. . To achieve the set objectives the study has used two types of data both primary and secondary. Primary data was obtained from a survey, field observation and focus group interviews. The secondary data was obtained from the Institute of Rice Research (Bathalegoda) and different government agencies and reports. This study has identified several major reasons that affected the increasing trend of paddy harvests in Sri Lanka. The first one is that the paddy harvest has been decreased by 25% in Sri Lanka. There are around five major factors that can contribute to increase the paddy harvest and the extent of cultivation. The introduction of the high yield varieties (seeds) is the first reason. Owing to that there is special attention given to it in this study. We have only two options to increase the paddy yield for food requirements in Sri Lanka. The problem is that the land available for paddy cultivation is almost completely used up. Therefore, the only solution is to introduce scientific technology to develop new varieties of seeds to increase the paddy harvest