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Friday, 14 January 2011

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Timely warning

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has called on the authorities to brace the country for an impending food crisis in view of the spate of natural disasters that is sweeping the world. This timely warning issued by President Rajapaksa of a looming food crisis should be heeded by all with the seriousness it deserves.

Addressing the Food Security and Cost of Living Committee at Temple Trees on Wednesday the President said the possibility of a global famine is clearly indicated due to the string of natural disaster that have hit the world in recent times. He called on them to devise contingency plans to face up to the situation. The President also warned that the crisis may be upon us by April this year due to the sizeable portion of food stocks that have been destroyed last year due to natural disasters. What is more ominous is the fact that Sri Lanka may lose between 15 to 20 percent due to the current weather pattern. President Rajapaksa has always given high priority to food security. It is due to his policies that Sri Lanka was able to avert a famine due to the world food crisis that affected even many of the developed nations three years ago. The fertilizer subsidies and reduction of costs of agricultural implements and other concessions to the farmer coupled with the vigorous food production drive launched by him as early as in the second year of his first term all served to ensure Sri Lanka was spared the fall out of the world food crisis. This at a time when the war was at its height and the bulk of the Government's resources committed to fighting terrorism.

The President's concern for the food security not only in Sri Lanka but in the South Asian region as a whole was also underscored when he proposed the establishment of a SAARC Food Bank during the Colombo Summit that year. Likewise the President mentioned a food crisis of gigantic proportions could be a reality very soon considering the large swathes of agriculture land that have been destroyed due to flood and other natural disasters in large parts of the world. The recent flood devastation in Pakistan alone affected 20 million people - equal in number to the Sri Lanka's population. Its effect on agriculture land and food crops can only be imagined. Australia is still being battered by the worst flood to hit the country in a century and if the TV footage is anything to go by the devastation caused to the vast agriculture tracts is incalculable. This coupled with other disasters that are taking a heavy toll on all arable land and food crops all over the world is bound to have a cumulative impact on agriculture production that could have an across the board impact on the food security of nations in the not too distant future.

Sri Lanka should therefore get its act together before it is too late. As the President stated there is hardly any time to lose. We ourselves are now experiencing one of the worse floods ever to hit the country with large-scale devastation to agriculture land and destruction of food crops. According to reports large vast swathes of the country's paddy land have being submerged with paddy destroyed. It is the same with other crops too since the worst affected areas are the ones that come under the country's agriculture belt.

It could be said that Sri Lanka too has been sucked into the global phenomenon of natural disasters and while we may be helpless in the matter there could be steps that may be taken to mitigate the damage and salvage something out of the ruins. To begin with the Government should take all necessary action to deal with the man made follies that contribute to the natural disasters such as floods. As we have been repeatedly saying in these columns it should take meaningful steps to prevent environmental destruction and damage to the eco-system which has exacerbated the damage. It should strike the right balance between development imperatives and environmental protection. While crop destruction is thus mitigated at least to some extent the Government should also lose no time in getting all cultivable lands that are abandoned or neglected under the plough.

It should forthwith put a halt to the unauthorized land filling and acquire such land for cultivation purposes where possible. In the present context we will have to seek out all avenues to step up agriculture production even though the food crisis is near at hand so that we may set up a sound base to meet any future challenges.

The looming food crisis should also drive the authorities to concentrate all its energies on agriculture development even at the expense of progress on the industrial front. What is needed is a long-term solution for sustainable agricultural production. Food security of a country is vital and should surpass all other considerations. For, a starving nation cannot benefit from development on whatever scale.

Educationist par excellence

Reminiscing on founder Principal of Devi Balika:

Dr Wimala de Silva’s primary objective was for her students not only to achieve excellence in academia but also to be well equipped to fit society in all aspects when they leave school. To this end emphasis was laid for Domestic Science for the girls as well as Current Affairs to widen the horizon of the students,

Full Story

Landmine-clearing undresses pro-LTTE Eelam clowns

Military Spokesperson Major General Ubaya Medawala has said that a total of 307,200 mines have been cleared and destroyed by the Army Field Engineers in a land area of 1,872 square kilometers.

Full Story

‘Generation Gap’ issues

Youth is the age of passion and hence our actions in youth are governed more by our idealism than our reasoning. Look at our Universities, the University students are acting like a bunch of puppets pushed around by their passions. They want everybody to be reasonable and right; fare and well intentioned,

Full Story

 

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