Time to rise up for rice
Recent national assessments have shown that
thousands of hectares of paddy lands are threatened due to climate
change
Prasad ALAHAKOON
Climate is the bliss that enabled life on the earth. And it is man,
who developed planet earth into an advanced civilization. But now it
seems that man’s actions has endangered life of earth by contributing to
the ‘Climate Change’ throughout the world. Climate change is turning out
to be the greatest challenge in the 21st Century.
Climate change is a result of Global warming, the increase of earth’s
average temperature. Global warming causes the climate of a particular
region to be changed.
The main reason for the global warming is the increased emission of
‘Green House Gases’ (GHGs) to the atmosphere by human activities. There
are three main GHGs, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.
Global warming has caused significant changes in Sri Lanka’s climate.
Increasing the temperature, rainfall variability, drought and Saline
intrusion caused by sea level rise are some of them.
GHG emissions
The Sri Lankan paddy sector faces a serious threat from climate
change. Saline intrusion affects inland rivers flowing to the sea and
this could degrade arable coastal paddy fields, causing them to be
abandoned. Over 30 percent of all rice paddies in the country are
rain-fed paddies which could be affected by rainfall variability. As
nearly 70 percent of the paddy cultivated is in the dry zone, this trend
of an increasing number of consecutive dry days can adversely affect
paddy yield. Rise in temperature causes grain sterility. Heat stress,
increased crop respiration and transpiration can ultimately reduce the
paddy yield. It has been estimated that approximately 352,000 ha of
paddy lands of the country are highly or moderately vulnerable for
drought exposure while 139,000 ha are highly or moderately vulnerable
for flood exposure due to the effects of climate change.
There are two approaches to face climate change challenge. One is
reducing the causes of global warming, that is reducing GHG emissions.
Especially, paddy cultivation is seen as the cause for the release of
huge amounts of methane to the atmosphere.
However, the contribution of GHG emissions by Sri Lanka is not that
significant. Sri Lanka has emitted 26.1 megatons of GHGs which is 0.06
percent of the total global GHG emissions in 2005. The most important,
reliable approach is adapting to the inevitable effects of climate
change. A number of initiatives have been taken regarding climate
change.
The Agriculture Department has already developed a number of paddy
varieties which will be adaptable to climate change. Varieties such as
At 354 and At 401 are saline tolerant and Bg 250 is suitable for areas
with flash flood.
Adaptation process
Research has recommended number of adaptation measures. On-farm
rainwater harvesting, saturated soil culture zero tillage practices are
some of them. Further, farmer-led trials have been carried out to
investigate the potential of using traditional rice varieties and the
indigenous knowledge for the climate change adaptation.
Ultimately, it is the farmers who should adopt the appropriate
practices which would be conducive to the climate. However it is the
responsibility of all who are involved in the paddy sector to support
the farmers by creating a suitable political, social and economic
environment for the adaptation process. And these efforts to secure our
paddy cultivation will be worthwhile since, rice means a lot more than a
mere food crop to Sri Lankans.
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