3rd lesson 2020 technology limitations and strategies

P.B. Dharmasena
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dharmasenapb@ymail.com , dharmasenapb@gmail.com
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Traditional Technology in Sri Lankan Agriculture
Lesson - 3
Limitations experienced and technologies
developed and adopted to overcome limitations
Course code: AS 3210 (2/ 25:10)
Faculty of Agriculture, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka,
Puliyankulama

Stage 1:
Traditional self-sufficient agricultural system evolved and existed
for thousands of years in Sri Lanka.
Features:
Based on natural processes, recycling of nutrients,
regeneration of natural resources.
Inputs like seeds, water, land, genetic diversity of plant
species were provided free by the nature itself.
Due attention was paid to practices like fallowing of
land, non-inversion tillage, mix-crop cultivation, selection of
suitable crops according to the land classes and climate.
History of agriculture in Sri Lanka.

Stage 2:
British period, in the mid
nineteenth century (1868),
export mono crops in large
plantations such as tea, rubber,
coffee were introduced to Sri
Lanka.
Features:
Large tracts of lands cleared for
cultivation
Mono cropping
Farmers: labourers

Absorption Phase
Collection Phase
Utilization Phase
Major Phases of a Watershed

Forest cover
observed in - 1992
Absorption
Phase
Collection Phase
Utilization Phase
Utilization Phase

Forest cover
observed in - 2010
Absorption
Phase
Collection Phase
Utilization Phase
Utilization Phase

Stage 3:
Introduction of green revolution and
related technology in 1960s.
Features:
Promoting commercial agriculture
Technologies included.
• Tillage using machinery,
development of irrigation with
infrastructure facilities.
• Use of fertilizer, use of pesticides,
promotion of mono crops.
• Improved varieties (HYV).

Stage 4:
Implementation of liberalized
economic policies.
Features:
• Lifted restrictions on imports;
withdrawal of subsidies for
agriculture and guaranteed prices.
Abolition of farmer protective
measures.
• Privatization of seed farms.
• Government withdrawal from
paddy purchasing (dismantling the
PMB).
• Abolition of the Marketing
Department.

• 1505 – 1640 Portuguese
• 1640 – 1796 Dutch
• 1796 – 1948 British
• 1815 (2nd March) – Kandyan Convention
• 1818 – Civil riots against British
• 1822 – Royal botanic garden
• 1830 – Plantation sector – coffee, rubber, coconut
• 1860 – Tea plantation
• 1861 – Hakgala Botanic Garden
• 1881 – The Journal of tropical Agriculturist
• 1884 – School of Agriculture, Colombo to train
improved methods of ploughing and transplanting
• 1884 – Botanical Garden Branch, Anuradhapura
• 1886 – Rehabilitation of Kalawewa reservoir
• 1893 – Flora of Ceylon (First Volume)
Recent History of Sri Lankan Agriculture

• A hand-book to the flora of Ceylon : containing descriptions of all
the species of flowering plants indigenous to the island, and notes
on their history, distribution, and uses : with an atlas of plates
illustrating some of the more interesting species

• 1894 – Planted rubber in this garden
• 1898 – Rubber trees died due to a recorded
drought
• 1900 – Irrigation Department established
• 1901 – Anuradhapura botanic garden - closed
down
• 1902 – First experimental station at
Gannoruwa
• 1903 – Dry Zone Experimental station at
Mahailluppallama for cotton
• 1904 – Rubber at Mahailluppallama
• 1904 – Ceylon Agricultural Society, took
over the publication of the Tropical
Agriculturist. Attempted to replace chena
with rotational farming in the dry zone.

• 1907 – Coconut at
Mahailluppallama
• 1912 – Formation of
Department of Agriculture
• 1914 – Paddy experiments at
Mahailluppallama
• 1914 – Experiment Station,
Anuradhapura
• 1914 – 1918 Sisal hemp at both
sites
• 1916 – School of Tropical
Agriculture, Peradeniya

• 1919 – Mahailluppallama closed
down and leased (2200 acres) to
Ceylon Hemp and Produce
Company for sisal cultivation
• 1926 – Small scale field
experiments at Vavuniya,
Anuradhapura and Thissa on
economic crops to replace chena

• 1938 – Dry farming Scheme,
Kurundan Kulama
• Rotational mixed farming
• Use of simple farm implements
• ‘Working with farmers’
• Seasonal Crops: cereals, cotton,
chilli, cucurbits, legumes,
vegetables
• Perannial Crops: Coconut,
banana, fruit trees (mango,
orange, lime, papaw, sapodilla,
bread fruit, jak)
• 40 ha at 4 ha/ farmer
• 1 acre plot perimeter conservation
bunds

• 1945 – 1946 Broad based graded
bunds with a shallow drain
• 1949 – Increased from 40 ha to 400
ha. And three more schemes at
Relapanawa, Olukaranda and
makalanagama
• Lessons learnt from Kurundankulama
• Conservation bunds (broad based)
disturb the surface soil layer
• Crops should be selected
according to the drainage
conditions.
• Inversion tillage buries the fertile
soil layer
• 1950 – Re-establishment of
Mhailluppallama

The first Green
Revolution
• In 1940’s plant
geneticists, began using
traditional methods of
cross-breeding to create
plants with desirable
traits, including
• Larger, more nutritious
seeds, fruit
• Resistance to pests and
disease
• Focused chiefly on
wheat, corn, and rice
Norman Borlaug
M.S. Swaminathan

• Newer varieties
tolerated stresses
associated with
increased planting
density
• Greater planting
density yields more
grain per field.
Successes of the first Green Revolution

Successes of Green Revolution
• In the 1960's, 70's and 80's, crop yields boosted in India,
China and Latin America. One billion deaths from
starvation averted
• Lower food prices occurred globally
• If food remained scarce in these countries, it was the
result of politics and food distribution

Green revolution – The cold war in
agriculture
• Improved varieties
• Inorganic fertilizer
• Insecticides
• Weedicides
• Machinery use

Other side of the coin
• Improved varieties – high input cost, pest and
diseases, susceptible to drought, salinity etc.
• Mechanization – damage to soil environment,
soil erosion, nutrient loss, water loss, insurgence
of weeds
• Inorganic fertilizer and agro-chemicals – soil
acidity, heavy metals, micro-nutrient deficiency,
health problems etc.

Robert Nox - 1681
Lewis - 1884

New Rice varieties
Traditional Rice varieties

We had more than two thousand
traditional rice varieties

Kalu heenati kahawanu
Siyapath el Kurulu thuda
Traditional rice
Mada thawalu
Suwandal

Importance:
Acid-base balance in the kidney
Protein synthesis
Production of cellular energy
Activating immune cells
For curing treatment of injuries
To produce anti-cancer
medicines
For muscle development
Glutamic acid

Glycemic Index – How fast the starch is
converted to sugar
Glucose 100
Wheat flour preparations 75-95
Rice
Bg 450 67
Bg 94-1 68
Suwandel 45

Variety type Protein (%) Fe (%)
Traditional 10.6- 13.3 2.2-3.4
Imprved (new) 6.4-10.0 1.7-2.0
Anti-oxidant property
(mmol
Trolox/100 g)
Traditional
rice
Improved
rice
Total 8.01 -17.88 1.84 - 1.61
Average 14.23 1.7
Type Pro antho
cyanidin
(mg/g)
Phenolic acids
(mg/g)
Traditional 11.95 - 21.77 16.47- 40.43
Improved nil 8.12- 8.56

New Findings
• Agro-chemicals including Glyphosate contain As
and other heavy metals.
• Pro antho cyandin can remove heavy metals from
the human body
• Pro antho cyanadin is present in rice like pachcha
perumal, kalu heenati, madathawalu etc.
• Pro antho cyanadin is absent in samba and nadu
available in the market

Cancer patients admitted to
hospitals
• 2010 – 16,963
• 2012 – 25,452
• 2013 – 25,515
• 2014 – 26,300 (14,000 died)
Diabetic patients:
20 % in urban areas
8 % in rural areas
15 – 20% school children

Side effects of successes of Green Revolution
• Uneven development: not
all countries and farmers
benefited equally
• Displacement of small
farmers and forced change
of livelihoods
• Increased dependency of
small farmers on global
markets
• Dependency upon fossil
fuels
• Increased water and
pesticide use
• Changes in crop diversity
and plant nutritional content

Displacement of small farmers
• With Green Revolution, shift to
monoculture export crops grown
on large plantations
• Replaced diverse types of
traditional agriculture
• Export crops replaced food
crops
• Land became concentrated
with large landholders who
can afford land and the cost
of inputs
• Subsequent neoliberal (new
liberal) economics and free
trade forced small farmers to
participate in global markets
often to their detriment.

Greater dependency on fossil fuels for:
• Fertilizer production
• Production of pesticides and herbicides
• Operation of tractors and farm equipment

Price of food tied to price of fuel
Food price
Oil price

Name of
fungicide
Commercial
names
Banned in USA Reason
Captan 3 1994 Cancer,
Mancozeb 21 1992 Cancer, stunt
growth, pregnancy
problem, hormone
deficiency
Maneb 3 1985 Cancer, stunt
growth, pregnancy
problem, hormone
deficiency
Increased pesticide use - Fungicides

Name of
insecticide
Trade
names
Banned in
USA
Reason
Carbaryl 04 1987 Cancer, nervous breakdown,
water pollution
Carbofuran 14 1989 Cancer, nervous breakdown,
water pollution, stunt growth,
pregnancy problem
Chloropyrifos 35 1985 Cancer, water pollution, stunt
growth, pregnancy problem
Diazinon 11 1980 Nervous breakdown
Fenobucarb 14 Cancer, water pollution
Phenthoate 13 Cancer, stunt growth,
pregnancy problem
Increased pesticide use – Insecticides

Name of
weedicide
Trade
names
Banned in
USA
Reason
2,4 - D 5 1984 Cancer, nervous breakdown, water
pollution
Alachlor 6 - Cancer, nervous breakdown, water
pollution, stunt growth, pregnancy
problem
Diuron 11 1987 Cancer, pregnancy problem, water
pollution
Glyphosate 38 ? nervous breakdown, Kidney failure
MCPA 35 1984 Cancer, water pollution
Oxadiazon 1 - Cancer, stunt growth, pregnancy problem
Paraquat 3 1986 ??
Propanil 27 1982 Cancer, stunt growth, pregnancy problem
Increased pesticide use - Weedicides

Use of Agro-chemicals in Sugar Cane
Farms: an example from Nicaragua
• San Antonio Sugar Mill of
Nicaragua Sugar Estates Ltd.
• 3251 died from Chronic Renal
Insufficiency (CRI) up to 22
March 2009
• 2244 died during 2005 - 2009
• Pesticides used: Hexacinone,
Diuron, Tebuthiuron, 2,4-D,
Glyphosate, Ametryn,
Paraquat, Endosulfan, MCPA
……………

What brought Kidney disease ?
New study - March 01, 2014
• Hard water contains metals
like Ca, Mg, Sr, Fe etc.
• Roundup, or glyphosate,
becomes highly toxic to the
kidney once mixed with
“hard water”
• Glyphosate half-life of
around 47 days in soil can
increase up to 22 years after
forming “strong complexes
with metal ions.”

PropanilCd++
Fe+++
C9H9Cl2NO
Amino group
Chloral group
Carbonyl group

ChlorpyrifosCd++
Fe+++
C9H11Cl3NO3PS
Chloral group
Ethyl groupAmide group

CarbarylCd++
Fe+++
Amide group
Carboxylic
group

Renal failure death rate
Corn and Soy planted
Glyphosate applied

Changes in plants and their foods

Landraces and traditional varieties
• A landrace is a local
variety of a domesticated
animal or plant species
which has developed by
adaptation to the specific
natural and cultural
environment in which it
lives.
• More genetically and
phenotypically
(physically) diverse than
formal crop breeds.

In Plant Genetic Resources Centre, Gannoruwa, there are more than 2,400 accessions of Rice
varieties collected and stored

Problems encountered by the small farmers in
Sri Lanka.
1.High production cost
• The green revolution technology
introduced is totally dependent on external
inputs such as improved seeds, fertilizer,
pesticides, herbicides, fungicides,
machinery like tractors and water pumps
that require fuel for their operation.
• These inputs have to be bought each and
every season and farmers need to have a
capital to invest in agriculture.
• These inputs have to be imported every
season and it involves our foreign
exchange. With the increase of input costs
in the world market, farmers are compelled
to purchase them at higher prices.
• These external inputs have a damaging
effects and impact on nature and eco
system.

Fertilizer Imports (mt).
0
100000
200000
300000
400000
500000
600000
700000
800000
900000
1996 1999 2002 2005 2008
metric
tons
year

2.Price fluctuation and low prices for
agriculture produce.
• Unorganized farming - The small
farmers are not a well-organized group in
the country. They market their produce
individually and not as a group. In
addition, they market the primary
products without any value addition.
• One crop - The farmers practice mono
cropping. This leads to cultivation of one
crop in a large extent of land and as a
result, market price for the crop, drop
drastically during the harvesting season.
• Increased food import - It is also
noteworthy that while the agricultural
crop production in the country is on the
decline the food imports are on the
increase.
Sri Lanka.

Chilli Imports (Mt).
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
40,000
45,000

Chilli Production (Mt).
0
10000
20000
30000
40000
50000
60000
70000
80000
90000

Chilli Extent (ha).
-
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000

2.Price fluctuation and low prices for
agriculture produce (contd….)
• Middle Men - Both the consumer and small-
holder farmers are at a disadvantage and the
benefits are derived by a network of middle
men involved in all the activities such as
collecting, packing, transporting, wholesale
and retail marketing.
• Profitability - Problems like high cost of
production on the one hand and the low
prices for their produce in the market on the
other hand make farming less profitable.
• Govt. marketing facility - Marketing
Department, which was directly involved in
purchasing farmer agriculture produce and
sell to consumers at a reasonable price, was
abolished after introducing liberalized
economic policies.
Sri Lanka.

Cost and income of paddy cultivation (Rs/ac)
District Attribute 2008 2009 2010 2011
Kurunegala Cost 55584 61407 67730 76348
Net Return 50419 67955 48842 22731
Anuradhapura Cost 58330 66675 70394 76071
Net Return 79745 61515 51059 22439
Polonnaruwa Cost 58563 66022 70220 75801
Net Return 79550 67533 61228 40349
Ampara Cost 55309 61426 62026 65193
Net Return 54166 52950 41807 23724
Hambantota Cost 62333 69139 76250 76880
Net Return 76281 79309 58745 58657

3. Damage to environment
and natural resources.
• Through green revolution
technologies contributed
immensely to an increase in
food production, it
neglected other factors
which make agriculture
systems sustainable. As a
result, there were negative
impacts such as natural
resources degradation and
depletion, erosion of
genetic diversity and
pollution of water
resources.
Problems encountered by the small farmers
in Sri Lanka.

3.1. Loss of genetic diversity.
• Traditional agriculture in Sri Lanka is characterized by its high
agro- bio diversity. The diversity consisted of land races such as
root crops, vegetables, fruits cereals, pulses, identified with
different habitats.
• In addition to possessing some qualities, such as taste,
medicinal value, they could also withstand floods, drought and
pest attacks.
• For example, “Devaraddiri”, a traditional rice variety was
cultivated in areas which tend to be inundated during rainy
period, while “Pokkali” another traditional variety was raised in
lands affected by salinity.
• After 1960s, these traditional varieties were totally displaced by
new varieties as a result of green revolution.
• It is reported that around 600 traditional rice varieties were
cultivated in paddy lands in 1940s. It is said that Sri Lanka
possessed high bio diversity in paddy with 2400 paddy varieties
which were of different taste, medicinal qualities and suitable
for different habitats.

3.2. Soil fertility.
• Soil erosion is a serious
problem causing
environmental degradation
in Sri Lanka.
• As a result, loss of organic
matter and microorganism
in the soil occurs.
According to a survey by
the environmental
authority, 44% of
agricultural lands in Sri
Lanka are degraded. It is
necessary to regenerate
these degraded land
resources through
ecological farming
practices for sustainable
use.

3.3. Water pollution.
• Fertilizer such as urea, sulphate of
ammonia, super phosphate and muriate
of potash, which are commonly used in
agriculture in Sri Lanka dissolve easily in
water. These fertilizers flow in to the
water bodies and enter drinking water
sources.
• The quality of water is far below the
standards for drinking water that has
been recommended by the Sri Lanka
standards (SLS) in 1983.
• As a result of the presence of large
amounts of nitrate in ground water, a
serious health problems in agricultural
areas in the country has emerged. As
reported in areas like Kalpitiya, Nuwara
Eliya, nitrate concentration is very high
in well water.
• It especially affects infants and it is the
major cause of life threatening disease
known as Methamo globenaemia or blue
baby syndrome.

3.3. Water pollution.
• In recent years, rapid spread of chronic kidney
disease (CKD) has been reported among the
farming communities in part of the North
Central Province and Kurunegala. It is
suspected to be due to the presence of traces
of Cadmium(Cd) leached into the water
sources mainly from the excessive use of low
quality super phosphate in cultivation.
• Eutrophication is another problem observed in
Sri Lanka due to excessive use of artificial
fertilizer. It takes place when the environment
becomes enriched with fertilizers such as
nitrogen and phosphate.
The algal forms in water grow quickly
and reproduced, more rapidly due to high
photosynthetic efficiency and resulting “algal
blooms” in tanks and fresh water bodies. The
algal use up all the oxygen in the water,
leaving none for other living forms in tanks.
This results in the death of many aquatic
organisms such as fish. The alga when
decompose even produce toxins that are
harmful to higher forms of lives.

3.4. Herbicides and pesticides application.
Weeds and insects resistant to pesticides and
herbicides too are reported. Eg. Echinochloa
crusgalli presence has made it necessary to
apply very high doses of 3,4 DPA.
It is also important to note that pesticides
eliminate not only the harmful pests but also
useful insects like pollinators and predators,
performing certain eco system functions such
as crop propagation and pest control.
The Department of Agriculture has introduced
IPM technology as a solution to problems
emerging due to excessive use of pesticides.
Farmer Field Schools (FFS) were implemented
to promote IPM technologies, it is reported that
around 55000 farmers participated in programs
and there was a decline in the number of
pesticide application rounds from 2.9 to 0.6.

3rd lesson 2020 technology limitations and strategies

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