Rice-Duck Integration Hope for Sri Lanka’s smallholder farmers and food security

Ancient inscriptions testify that the integration of rice-duck was not just a farming method, but an important feature of agrarian society on the island, which deteriorated with the advent of chemical-intensive agriculture 

• Using ducks and rice in Sri Lanka reflects a sophisticated understanding of ecological balance and sustainable farming
• Little-publicised recent research suggests rice-duck integration revival will provide all the answers to today’s agricultural challenges

Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it— Mark Twain

Agriculture in Sri Lanka is at a deadlock, and for the smallholder farmers, who constitute the backbone of the nation’s food production, it is a question of survival. Endless debates go nowhere, with a focus stuck on fertilizer subsidies and drones. Yet, the solution—a part of our agricultural heritage for centuries—is being glaringly ignored: rice-duck integration. Indeed, the ancient practice alone can provide small farmers in rice production with a lifeline to retain economic viability, improve food security, and practice environmentally sustainable farming. The right time is now to resurrect this technique and nail it as a savior for Sri Lanka’s smallholder rice producers.

Using ducks and rice in Sri Lanka reflects a sophisticated understanding of ecological balance and sustainable farming. Ancient inscriptions from the 4th Century BCE to the 1st Century CE testify that the integration of rice-duck was not just a farming method, but an important feature of agrarian society on the island, which deteriorated with the advent of chemical-intensive agriculture. We created the weed and pest problems in our rice production to an extent that now we must pursue very expensive solutions, like drones. While some of our small-scale farmers, already poor, borrow money from loan sharks to buy weedicides at high interest rates. However, little-publicized recent research suggests rice-duck integration revival will provide all the answers to today’s agricultural challenges. This was an ancient practice that provided smallholder farmers both economic and ecological support, though now it has come to be re-explored as a potential savior for the future of Sri Lanka’s agriculture.

Sri Lankan paddy fields are much more than just rice producers; they are dynamic ecosystems that complement life and agriculture and have done so for centuries. These naturally function as water reservoirs, carbon sinks, and biodiversity hotspots. The traditional irrigation system—its complex network of canals, tanks, and bunds—recharges groundwater, prevents soil erosion, and provides habitats for birds and aquatic life. However, modern farming is breaking this sensitive ecological balance, which in turn increases the emission of greenhouse gases and loss of biodiversity. This ecological shift has dire economic consequences for smallholder farmers, who constitute 40% of households and are responsible for 85% of Sri Lanka’s food supply. With high input costs, a highly volatile market, and shrinking profits, 82% are now compelled to start looking elsewhere for jobs, which means setting at risk not only their livelihoods but also the nation’s food security.

Market Challenges 

These smallholder farmers are then fixed in the vicious cycle of economic distress. Some of the disturbances due to which markets become volatile include seasonal crop cycles, unpredictable climate conditions, inefficient supply chains, and fluctuations in market prices. Inadequate road infrastructure and insufficient transportation mechanisms lead to post-harvest losses and higher costs, choking the already meager margins of these farmers. To add insult to injury, middlemen tamper with the prices, and moneylenders fleece farmers due to the absence of formal credit. 

In such a debt trap, smallholders quickly get thrust into overdependence on one or a couple of crops, which worsens their vulnerability in the financial sense. Though such multidimensional problems require multidimensional solutions, the re-emergence of rice-duck integration will be one very significant step. Focusing on this age-old practice can help stabilise these smallholder farmers against the various fluctuations in the market and enable them to break free from this cycle of uncertainty. Government policy reforms, market linkage, and infrastructure investment must be synchronised, henceforth being implemented to support the reintegration of ducks into paddy fields as part of a national priority.

Lesson from the poultry crisis

The future of smallholder rice farming is destined to follow what is happening in the poultry industry as a result of delay in action at the level of Sri Lanka. Until the 1990s, small-scale poultry farmers contributed over 85% of the country’s eggs through government support and cooperative movements. Chicks and ducklings were supplied by Central Poultry Research Station in Karandagolla, Kundasale, and state-run agencies sorted out distribution, providing a regular source of income for poorer households. Henceforth, starting from 1962 after the ban on importation, Sri Lanka never needed to import eggs during this period. This system collapsed between 1978 and 1992 when government support waned, thus allowing big private sector players to dominate the market. Now smallholder poultry farmers account for just 15% market share, with large operators controlling the egg value chain. A similar fate now awaits smallholder rice and crop producers. What was supposed to be support for smallholders through the Paddy Marketing Board caved in and gave way to large rice millers, now controlling the market with implications for food security and livelihoods among smallholder farmers.

Fertilizer Subsidy

As a means of improving rice production and ensuring food security, the government policy has subsidized fertilizers for a long period. This method also has its disadvantages. With 82% of rice farmers being involved in other jobs, they usually have limited time to make good use of such subsidies, hence leading to increased costs and reduced benefits. Cash-strapped smallholder farmers are now compelled to sell part of the subsidized fertilizer they receive. The subsidy, therefore, turns from its supposed objective of ensuring food security into serving a completely different agenda: the agenda of politics. Besides, the hybrid rice varieties have been bred for high yields and, therefore, require heavy doses of fertilizer at the cost of high vulnerability to pests, diseases, and weeds. These varieties require specialized conditions for best performance and, in the process, encourage weed growth, further increasing dependence on chemical inputs. Some discussions have put forward a mix of inorganic fertilizers with organic inputs, such as duck droppings, for cost reduction, coupled with soil health improvement. These suggestions have remained theoretical and far from real-life farmers’ needs. The answer has always been buried in our agricultural history: rice-duck integration. Sri Lanka’s history with ducks and rice cultivation is deeply entwined in its agrarian culture and traditional farming practices. The duck has proven to be a very good companion for rice farmers throughout their history, helping them better practice a form of agriculture with minimum requirements of external inputs owing to the action of natural pest control and fertilizer provision, both of which support ecosystem balance. More recently, ducks used in paddy fields have helped smallholder farmers by reducing more chemicals, improving soil fertility, and increasing yields.

A time-tested solution

Rice-duck integration has traditionally been a minor land use practice; it received increasing attention in Sri Lanka over three decades, from the 1950s through the 1980s. In this system, ducks are integrated into paddy cultivation for pest control, weed consumption, and soil nutrient enrichment through droppings they deposit. It reduces the application of chemicals, maintains soil fertility, and optimises water management in a wholly natural way. Unfortunately, this practice lost favor when the agriculture of crops and livestock got divided into two separate departments of the government. In the prevailing agricultural crisis, rice-duck integration needs to be revived. The same must be facilitated at the Department of Agrarian Development for uniform implementation at the regional levels. Its operation would involve policy advocacy, government incentives, farmers’ education, and constant monitoring of soil, water, and emissions. This environmentally friendly method can be branded to attract higher returns from premium markets and add value to farmers’ produce.

Benefits 

The integration models recommended herein overcome most of the challenges that small-scale farmers face. Ducks are a form of biocontrol, hence reducing the use of chemical pesticides. Droppings from the ducks in the paddies fertilize them, reducing dependence on synthetic fertilizers. With improved soil fertility, coupled with proper water management, integration of ducks with rice cropping has the potential to raise yields by 20-30% within a season compared to conventional methods. More importantly, this method reduces the environmental costs of modern rice cultivation, such as methane emission from flooded paddies and the reduction in carbon sequestration functions of the soil.

Addressing economic viability and challenges

While rice-duck integration may be highly hopeful, the scaling-up process has a bunch of challenges: economic viability, diseases, infrastructure, and training of farmers. Above all, proof has to be shown that rice-duck integration will be able to guarantee food security in the country and improve the well-being of the farmers. Success would come if it is under holistic legislation, investments, and incentives to the farmers themselves. Some immediate actions are: promoting the use of organic fertilizers, integrated pest management, and crop rotation to reduce input costs. Cooperatives for shared transportation and bulk purchasing can reduce costs and facilitate access to markets. Improved on-farm storage and better packaging techniques can reduce post-harvest losses, allowing farmers to sell in the market at better times. Therefore, income buffering through crop diversification and value addition—by processing excess produce—and access to formal credit become very important. Stability in income would be assured, and farmers taken care of to avoid predatory lending through strengthened financial institutions and contract farming. Of relevance are the interventions by the government in the form of subsidies on sustainable farming inputs, investment in infrastructure, and regulation in controlling the exploitation by middlemen that constitute the crucial steps toward the creation of a stable market environment.

Time for change 

Sri Lankan agriculture is at an inflection point. If immediate intervention is not made with a strategic revisit to support smallholder farmers, then large-scale operators are sure to hold sway over the sector, at the cost of millions of livelihoods and the nation’s food sovereignty. Debates on fertilizer subsidies are jumping, but they are not a panacea—not by any stretch of imagination, at least. Rice-duck integration has been an integrated eco-friendly method of farming. It will not only enhance yields but decrease the need for chemical inputs, reducing greenhouse gas emissions—into a sustainable path forward. Smallholder farmers are at the center of Sri Lanka’s food system and custodians of rich agricultural heritage that has shaped the course of both the economy and the environment over several millennia. The time for talking is over. This is the time to take the crucial decision and adopt a holistic and integrated approach that decentralizes power to farmers, renewing emphasis on rice-duck integration. If Sri Lanka does this, it can ensure a future that is food secure, environmentally sustainable, and people-centered, because smallholder farmers in the country account for 85% of its food production.

(The writer is a retired Deputy Director of Veterinary Research; and he was also the Former National Coordinator Farm Animal Genetic Resources (FAnGR)–Sri Lanka / FAO from 1998 to 2010), Consultant Livestock and Poultry Specialist for– CIDA, USAID, FAO, and JICA and can be reached on [email protected])