Paddy and banana cultivation in Sri Lanka : a study analysing the farmers’ constraints in agriculture with focus on Sooriyawewa D.S. division

Abstract: The farmers in Sooriyawewa D.S. division, situated in the Dry Zone in Sri Lanka, are main cultivators of paddy and banana. The agriculture in the Dry Zone is heavily depending on water from the irrigation schemes. The objective of the study is to investigate the methods used in the paddy and banana cultivation in Sri Lanka with focus on Sooriyawewa D.S. division in order to understand the main constraints that the farmers experience in their agricultural practice. Five paddy and banana farmers in the study area were thus interviewed, with help of an interpreter, to gain a comprehensive picture of the farmers’ situation. A literature study was also performed and in addition, relevant statistics describing the rainfall, the banana and paddy crops cultivated in the region were analysed. The farmers all stated that the water situation was their main concern, in particular for the paddy farmers since paddy cultivation requires a lot of water. Secondly pests and diseases were the main concern for the banana farmers. The farmers had also observed that the rainfall seemed to decrease in amount, seasonality and reliability. The literature study confirmed that the water situation is the paddy farmers’ greatest problem and the statistics indicated that the Yala season (dry season) is getting drier while the Maha season (wet season) is getting wetter. However, the paddy yields are increasing despite the decrease in rainfall during the Yala season. The changes seen in the rainfall pattern indicates that the agriculture in the Dry Zone has to prepare for years with droughts that will be more severe than the droughts in the past.