Rice in crisis

The Constitution of the Republic of Sri Lanka concludes with the Buddhist Stanza, meant to contain auspicious tidings, with the words "Devo vassathukalena" which means 'May the rains come on time' — and, "raja bhavatu dhammiko" — 'May the rulers rule justly'. Last week, our reporters returned from a visit to the Rice Bowl of Sri Lanka -- areas irrigated by the diverted waters of the Mahaveli River -- and wrote of the havoc caused by the unseasonal rains on the paddy harvest.

Fields were flooded and farmers were trying to salvage what was left after the deluge. Men, women and children were thrashing the paddy stalks on large stones, using their homes and public roads to dry their paddy as the prematurely harvested crop was beginning to germinate. All the while, private mill owners were waiting like vultures to prey on the hapless farmers. A rice expert who accompanied our reporters analyses what he saw and what must be done (Please click to visit related story).

He outlines the lack of State patronage and NGO support, and the lack of mechanisation availability at affordable rates. The Government maintains an enormous bureaucracy as service providers for the farmer and he questions what role these service providers play in normal times. The suicide rate among farmers is already high as they are pushed to the brink by their inability to repay bank loans. Despite subsidised fertilizer and better rice varieties, thanks to some dedicated researchers, the overall picture is not rosy.

The Government's quick fix has been to import rice. While that is understandable when nature turns malevolent, as it has this time, this seems the general trend when there is bad management all round.

A Central Bank release this week, with respect to consumer goods imports which grew by 38 per cent in January 2008, states that the volume of rice imports also increased "significantly".
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed, credited for transforming that country from a largely plantation-based economy (like Sri Lanka was) to an industrial nation, told a CIMA conference in Colombo two years ago that he believed that it was better to turn an acre of land into an industrial plot giving employment to a hundred people than tilling the soil giving employment to probably one family and producing little food. It was not those very words, but that was, in essence, what he said.

In the brief period in which the UNP was in office, they seemed to adopt a somewhat similar policy. They felt that the CoP (Cost of Production) of a kilo of rice outweighed the price if one were to import it. Except that in importing the rice one had to pay in foreign exchange, and there was the loss of employment to the farmer.

Though it made some economic sense, the then Opposition successfully made a joke out of the policy, mocking it all the way to the polls when one Minister (now in this Government) suggested that farmers wear jeans to the field, even though it was during that period that the Agriculture Ministry began placing advertisements in newspapers urging people to eat rice thrice a day because of the bumper harvest.

Recently, this Government urged the people to eat rice and rice-based string-hoppers etc., in a bid to wean them away from imported wheat products like bread. But now see what has happened with the ruined rice harvest. Rural Sri Lanka is still far away from changing from an agricultural society, the garment factories being the only serious introduction of any form of industry to these areas.

The wewai-dagobai (tank and temple) concept still prevails at the core of Sri Lankan culture, and tilling the paddy field is intrinsic to the way of life of a large segment of people in the villages.

They are the ones who provide the staple diet of the nation-at-large; your plate of rice.
Most of today's food production is 'natural agriculture', a term former President J.R. Jayewardene used to denote sheer apathy on the part of the government towards agricultureal productivity.

Paddy Marketing Boards established back in 1959 and Guaranteed Price Schemes introduced to protect farmers have been nullified by millers and local traders who manipulate the market - and therefore, prices. Accusations of Ministerial backing for some millers are mounting as the farmer is left at their mercy all year round. The crop insurance scheme is reportedly chaotic and farmers are crying for compensation similar to what tea smallholders receive when they face droughts.

The step-motherly treatment meted out to agriculture must end. Sophisticated machinery for milling, and in this case to dry the wet rice -- must not be the preserve of a few. Machines for threshing must be within the reach of the toiling farmer. There's much to do on the so-called Green Revolution other than opening Letters of Credit for the importing of rice -- or blabbing away over the radio urging people to eat more rice.