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Bad weather in north and east a harbinger of bad news for harvesting farmers
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Farmers trying to salvage what's possible from flooded paddy fields in Kilinochchi
By S. Rubatheesan
The heavy downpours in the North, North-Central, and Eastern provinces throughout the week disrupted the ongoing paddy harvest and cultivation of grains.
Farmers in Ampara, Batticaloa, and Kilinochchi had to put their harvest operations on hold due to the sudden heavy rains on Monday and Tuesday. 
Eight sluice gates of the Iranaimadhu tank, the largest agrarian tank in the north, were opened on Tuesday. As a result, paddylands in low-lying areas of Kandawalai and Pannankandy in Kilinochchi were flooded as most of the minor tanks and canals reached maximum capacity.
Corn farmers in Pothuvil, east, lamented that the unpredictable heavy rains affected their harvest, which was already subjected to pest attacks due to changing weather patterns in recent weeks.
“Even if we harvested whatever is left over, we find it difficult to market them for a decent price. I don’t know how I will be able to come out from the loans I took for the cultivation,” said T. Nallathambi, a corn cultivator in Pothuvil.
In Vavuniya, where black gram (ulundu) is cultivated on hundreds of acres of land, the farmers contributing to local demand have been severely affected.
Farmers claimed that at least seventy percent of the total cultivated land is destroyed due to the rains.
T. Thampiiyaa, a farmer from Cehttikulam, Vavuniya, said that he is not sure whether the partially damaged black gram gains can be sold as feed for livestock manufacturers.
| Millers storing rice in farmers’ homes to evade authorities Certain major rice millers have stored rice stocks in the homes of respective farmers instead of their storage facilities to evade authorities, a Parliament Oversight Committee found. The Committee on Public Finance (CoPF), led by Dr. Harsha de Silva, looked into the current shortage of certain rice varieties and the failure to announce the Minimum Purchase Price (MPP) for paddy even weeks after farmers began harvest across the country. Anura Wijetunga, a director attached to the Ministry of Agriculture who testified before the committee, said during the visits they made to Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura, they discovered that certain millers paid advance money to stock the paddy in the residences of farmers instead of taking them to their storage facilities. “We were told by the farmers that it was their own harvest. We cannot do anything since the paddy is with the farmer.” The senior official also stressed that the annual paddy harvest for the Maha season has dropped by one million metric tonnes to 4.2-4.3 million metric tonnes (2023/2024) due to climate change affecting lower yield rates as well. When inquired about the taxes the government collected through the import of rice at Rs 65 per kilo, a senior Customs official said that the government collected Rs 10.9 billion as revenue so far. Meanwhile, farmers federations urged the government to announce MPP for paddy at Rs 140 to ensure farmers get a reasonable price for their harvest. Leader of Farmers Coordination Union Anuradha Thennakon told a news briefing in Colombo that, like previous governments, this government also failed to protect the welfare of farmers by putting off declaring the MPP for paddy despite harvesting being underway in several districts. “At the last minute, farmers will be forced to sell their paddy stock at lower prices as big rice mafia owners will hoard them and later fix the rice prices in coming months. The consumers will also be badly affected by price increases,” Mr. Thennakon said, urging the government to declare the MPP without delay and purchase paddy directly from farmers. | |
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