Reimagining Agriculture and Agriculture Policies in Sri Lanka

By Sarath Fernando

On 29 July 2013

Background
Developing a suitable and a successful agriculture policy in the country has been a very complicated problem for all recent governments. On coming into power they have all tried to formulate new agricultural policies but these are often/generally discarded or sidetracked and somebody else formulates the agriculture policies that the government finally carries out. As a result agriculture in the country today is in a mess. Therefore, it is necessary not only to suggest policies but also to plan implementation irrespective of whether the government accepts it or not.

Historical experiences
Another important observation is that although governments have often tried to move away from the emphasis on agriculture, focus instead on industry, and give preference to exports over domestic production; these efforts have failed and the country has reverted back to domestic agriculture. This is because there are many advantages in the areas of domestic agriculture and domestic food production which governments revert back to in times of crisis. When reimagining agriculture, the natural environment has to be given due consideration, along with recognition for the needs and capabilities of the people.  Sri Lanka, throughout its history had designed its agriculture and food production taking these into consideration. The central hill country was densely forested before it was cleared for the tea plantations. Most of the country’s rainfall is in the hills where all the rivers begin.

The forested hills played an important role in storing up the water and letting it down gradually, through rivers and streams. Agriculture in the plains utilised this water. Reservoirs and canals were built to retain this water and take them to places where water was needed. The irrigation systems were ecologically designed to maximize the utilisation of nature’s gift. Cascades were utilised to use the water again and again for human needs before it was released to the sea.  When reservoirs or “wewas” were constructed a large forest reservation was kept for the protection of water. It is said that in Minneriya Wewa, a hundred thousand acres of forest reservation was reserved for the protection of the “Wewa”. The planning of the wewa system was such that the area downstream was used for rice farming, and land upstream was reserved as a catchment area.  Certain areas were also  reserved for farm animals like the buffaloes, for chena cultivation and highland farming of fruits, cereals, yams and vegetables. Human settlements were formed in suitable places so that they could conveniently utilise the “wewa” and the agricultural land.  These villages were called “Wew Gammana”.

Ancient agriculture lessons
In hena cultivation the practice was not to cut off all the trees. Only branches were cut down to allow sunlight through and this was called “eli peheli kireema”. After a season’s farming the land was left fallow and farmers shifted to another area. They returned to the same land some seven years later when the land had recovered. The soil had restored its fertility, trees had grown again to absorb and utilise sunlight etc. There was no killing of insects and microbes. Insects were only driven away. Other animals were not killed but driven away before the cleared area was burnt. The animals could continue to play their role, insects pollinated, microbes made the soil fertile by digesting the decaying organic matter and so on. hena was always diversified agriculture and never monoculture plantations. This was called “dasaboga wagawa”

Commercialisation and damage
Later on the process of commercialisation changed this entire approach to agriculture. This took place not only in Sri Lanka, but throughout the world. Large monoculture plantations were created for commercial purposes. Many countries were known for a single commercial crop. Sri Lanka for tea, Brazil for coffee, Malaysia for rubber, and now for oil palms, certain other countries for sugar cane, for cattle breeding and so on.

The next threat to agriculture came with the green revolution, when hybridisation came into being. New high yielding varieties absorb more fertility of the soil than natural varieties thus making the soil less fertile. Hybrids give more yield but they lose the ability to resist disease. Thus, artificial pest resistance is needed, when single crops are cultivated other plants are considered to be weeds, and chemical weedicides are utilised.

So, with the green revolution the use of chemical inputs in the form of pesticides, weedicides and chemical fertilizers became necessary. The ill effects of this chemical farming is well known today but since chemical companies make high profits no serious efforts are made to avoid their use. Agriculture has become very costly since all these inputs are expensive and need to be imported.Production and marketing of hybrid seeds is another lucrative business. The use of these artificial inputs which are also poisonous makes agriculture extremely unhealthy today.

Problems faced
Sri Lanka today is a country that demonstrates all these ill effects strongly. The latest finding is that there is a mysterious kidney disease that has already killed 20,000 people over the last ten years in Padaviya alone. Another 20,000 are fatally ill. In Rajarata, the number of people affected is over a hundred thousand. These are the official figures of the health department taken from hospital statistics.

The effects are seen in other diseases as well Cancers, diabetes, high levels of cholesterol, heart diseases and skin diseases are on the increase.  With the reduction of natural controls such as frogs, lizards, fish etc., which have been killed due to the use of chemicals, mosquito borne diseases like dengue and malaria are on the rise with more resistant varieties of mosquitoes breeding. Food has become very expensive with increasing food prices worldwide. However, the farmers are not benefitting from this as they have to sell their produce at low prices to traders. Malnutrition in the country is very high, with about 30% malnutrition among plantation people and very similar in agricultural areas as well.  It is very high also in the war affected areas in the North and East where accurate figures are not yet available.

Remedies
Remedies to some of these issues have been declared by successive governments but have not been seriously carried out. Agriculture must primarily ensure that all people get their essential food at an affordable cost and that food should be healthy. When world food prices increased the government began a programme named “Api Wawamu Rata Nagamu” (Let’s grow and build the nation) (2007-2010). The intention was to encourage 4 million home gardens with each family having their own home garden. A few years later, it launched “Divineguma” (livelihood development) aiming at a million home gardens, and “Gamaneguma” (improvement of the village). There is also a programme directly funded by the World Bank named “Gemi Diriya: (Courage of the village). The Samurdhi Movement is the official poverty alleviation programme. Under each of these programmes the declared intention was to get the village communities to plan their own programme with much emphasis on home gardening. The funds allocated for each of these programmes was quite adequate to carry out the home gardens successfully. However, again under the influence of agrochemical companies the methodologies are not effective. Seeds taken from companies and chemical fertilizer packets were distributed. The crops given were only short term vegetables. For instance, in Divineguma it was declared that Rs. 10,000/- for once, would be allocated for each home garden. But the experiences of some NGOs such as MONLAR is that home gardens can be carried out with a sum of around Rs. 5,000/ for once which includes  all staff salaries, office expenses, training and travel etc. The staff was for running the central organization and the office was the central office. They are therefore not costs of the home garden. The salaries are for the period of building the home gardens.

Conclusion
The conclusion that can be drawn from this experience is that agriculture can be much better done by utilizing what nature gives you free. We do not need the external chemical inputs that are damaging and destructive. Natural ecological farming regenerates nature, its resources and functioning. This is an essential task if the world is to survive.