Adverse weather, poor planning and the plight of farmers - EDITORIAL

Sri Lanka is going through a prolonged period of dry weather this year. However, this is not the first time such variations in the climate have adversely affected this country.   
The older generation probably remembers the dry spell we underwent during the Presidencies of Ms Chandrika Kumaratunga and Mahinda Rajapaksa. 
The failure of the monsoon then too, caused prolonged periods of dry weather leading to crop failures and the impoverishment of farmers 
But, there was little anyone could do to stop the damage in agricultural production, but the loss to the livelihoods of farmers was minimised. Today, once again it appears, agricultural production and the farming community are going to be adversely hit.

On July 20 this year, India announced it would stop exporting non-basmati white rice, immediately. The move was designed to help lower rice prices and secure the availability of rice in India, according to the government’s statement. 
In contrast, two weeks ago our Department of Agriculture announced that Sri Lanka would not need to import rice, green gram, black gram, kurakkan (finger millet), cowpea, and groundnut in 2023. 

It added the country had reached self-sufficiency in rice due to the reintroduction of chemical fertiliser. 
However, about two weeks ago, the Minister of Agriculture warned there was a risk of a food shortage in the country if the current dry weather conditions were to continue. He said cultivated paddy lands in several districts had been destroyed due to the dry weather.
According to the Minister, over 50,000 acres of paddy lands under the Udawalawe Reservoir are at risk of being destroyed due to lack of water, while tanks in the Anuradhapura area are running dry. 

Are our agricultural authorities and the Minister-in-charge of these departments so out of touch with ground realities? Did they not notice that tanks were not filled before the planting season?
The water in the tanks in Anuradhapura and the Udawalawe did not disappear all of a sudden. How come agricultural authorities did not foresee the water shortage coming? Did they not give heed to reports of falling water levels in the reservoirs (tanks)?

In an earlier era, water for irrigation was distributed on a planned basis depending on its availability. Plans should have been in place regarding the extent of land to be cultivated given the quantity of water available in tanks. 
What is worse is the fact that prolonged dry weather should have been expected. The El Nino and climate change conditions are affecting multiple continents including Asia, which are sweltering under a global heat wave. 

In Japan, the heat is hovering near the nation’s previous record of 41.1 C, according to the country’s meteorological department. 
Wildfires have broken out in Spain and Portugal and temperatures are hovering at around 40 degrees in Southern Europe.
Around a third of the US Hawaiian Island of Maui was burned to ashes in wildfires which swept across the island two days ago. The death toll from the fire now stands at 99, making it the deadliest US wildfire in more than a century.

As mentioned earlier however, in India authorities planned to meet the shortfall in rice production by banning the export of the commodity, to ensure the availability of sufficient quantities to meet local needs and to stabilise local prices.
Sadly in our country such foresight is missing. However, perhaps we can use the present situation to ensure that during the next monsoon, we will be able to store more water by dredging and deepening our tanks and reservoirs during the current dry spell. 

In order to meet the loss to farmers government normally provides the community with some form of sustenance. Rather than providing handouts (or in addition to), perhaps these funds could be used to organise farmers to dredge tanks and clear irrigation channels, through shramadana activities. 
The JVP which was in government during Ms Kumaranatunga’s Presidency organised these programmes.
Perhaps authorities could draw up plans to implement similar schemes now, which will help farming communities tide over the difficult period ahead while at the same time increasing the water retention and collection capacity of the tanks.