Benefits of natural farming
The economy of the country mainly depends on
the agriculture sector. Rice being our staple food from ancient times
Sri Lankans cultivated paddy mainly in rural areas. Today most small
farmers have to face many problems such as high production cost and loss
of fertile soil. Farmer Federation of Conservation for the Traditional
Seeds and Agri-Resources Chief Organizer K.P. Hemantha Abeywardena
interviewed by Ishara Mudugamuwa dealt with the benefits of natural
farming.
Our forefathers were self sufficient in food. We had our own
traditional methods of cultivation. With introduction of new
technologies our farmers left behind the traditional methods and moved
into modern agriculture. But now most farmers suffer from the
consequences of that, Abeywardena said.
He also said today small farmers’ paddy fields are barren specially
in the wet zone. They refuse to cultivate as they couldn’t get profit
from their cultivation.
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Traditional
methods of farming are nature friendly. File photo |
They have to spend more money on machinery, fertilizer and other
chemical products. This modern technology is not suitable to our
farmers.
Traditional agriculture in Sri Lanka was based on natural process.
Inputs like seeds, water, land and genetic diversity of plant species
were provided free by nature. Farmers had selected suitable crops. So
they didn’t have the high production cost problem. There were specific
paddy varieties for each type of soil. Farmers used to cultivate Maa Vee
in flood prone areas, he said.
There are paddy varieties that grow fast with strong root system. So
there were not enough space for weeds to grow in paddy lands. Those
times the lands were more fertile and if there were weeds farmers could
easily weed them out. Our forefathers used to add natural fertilizer
such as bone manure to their lands.
According to Father of Natural Farming in India Subhash Palekar, 80
percent of Asians are involved in agriculture. With the introduction of
new machinery and chemical products farmers have to face a lot of
difficulties. With the use of tractors or other tools, chemical
fertilizers, chemical insecticides and pesticides our paddy fields are
destroyed. The soil is no longer suitable for paddy cultivation. Wrong
cultivation practices, use of heavy tractors and other tools,
destruction of the soil humus by chemical farming, unnatural irrigation
practices are the causes that ruined traditional farming.
If farmers reuse these methods, they don’t have to suffer any more.
They can successfully face natural disasters like floods, droughts as
well as pest attacks and disease outbreaks.
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