‘Drought causes severe problems for Yala cultivation’

Nimal Wijesinghe, Anuradhapura Additional District Group corr

The severe drought presently prevailing in the Anuradhapura district, has caused the majority of minor tanks to go dry.

Anuradhapura Deputy Commissioner of Agrarian Services, Pahalagiribawa, told the Daily News the usual intermittent rains pending the Yala cultivation, have not arrived, creating a severe problem.

He said that there are around 2,500 minor irrigational tanks under the Agrarian Services Department in Anuradhapura district.

“Due to the undetermined situation concerning the rainfall, there could be a drop in the 2012 Yala cultivation pattern as targeted earlier.

As advised by the Agrarian Services Minister S. M. Chandrasena, we have conducted a pirith chanting ceremony, in accordance with the ancient tradition, at the Ruwanweliseya premises in the Anuradhapura sacred city, to invoke the blessings of the Triple Gem and the deities to grant adequate rain for the Yala cultivation yesterday and an alms giving to 100 bhikkhus today, Pahalagiribawa disclosed.

Except for Tisawewa, Abayawewa and Huruluwewa, paddy cultivation under the Nachchaduwa, Rajangane, Padaviya, Wahalkada, Maha Kanadarawa and Maha Wilachchiya major tanks are issued adequate water for starting and maintaining the Yala paddy cultivations, Anuradhapura irrigational authorities said.

At Tisawewa and Abayawewa, along with Huruluwewa, the farmers have, despite the agreement at the Kanna meeting, cultivated paddy in the whole extent of land without growing subsidiary food crops.

As such, there is a problem of issuing the required capacity of water, the irrigational engineers disclosed. Due to the scarcity of water at Kalawewa, nearly 50,000 acres of paddy cultivation in Mahaweli ‘H’ area, are threatened with destruction.

Due to the drought, the farmers have shown less interest in obtaining the fertilizer subsidy.

According to the Fertilizer Secretariat’s, Anuradhapura Assistant Director A. T. Ajith Kumara, the fertilizer subsidy requirement for the 2012 Yala cultivation has been 33,624 metric tons of Urea, TSP and MOP. This is for the cultivation of 78,694 hectare in the Anuradhapura district. But so far the amount of subsidy already issued is only 11,372 metric tons, sufficient for 29,000 hectare.

He said during the previous years, may fertilizer subsidies had been issued for 60,000 hectare comparatively.