6

# **3. Agriculture in Sri Lanka**

Sri Lanka’s agricultural history dates back more than 2,500 years. For centuries, paddy cultivation<sup>9</sup> in the island nation was not just an economic activity but a way of life that shaped society, culture, and religion. A <mark>gro-climatically, Sri Lanka has an unusually favorable environment for the exploitation of rainfall and cultivable land through irrigation,</mark><sup>10</sup> <mark>given the wide range of climatic and soil conditions conducive to growing rice. Rice is grown year-round, as the country enjoys two cropping seasons linked to the two monsoons with rainfall, ground elevation and temperature all conducive for paddy.</mark><sup>11</sup> <mark>E</mark> ven today, agriculture accounts for 26 <mark>percent of employm</mark> ent<sup>12</sup> in the country.

Given the important role agriculture has played in Sri Lankan society, it is not surprising that the supply of water for agriculture has been a focus since ancient times, leading to advanced developments in water resources management/hydraulic irrigation. Sri Lanka had some of the most complex irrigation systems of the ancient world, and many of these tanks and canals are still functional. For example, King Pandukabhaya (reigning from 437 to 367 BC) constructed one of the earliest irrigation tanks called Basawakkulama. Tanks like Tissa Wewa and Nuwara Wewa were first constructed around 200 BC and are a major source of irrigation in the Anuradhapura district even today.

As of 2017, approximately 790,000 hectares of paddy land was being cultivated of which 75 percent was irrigated. Cropping intensity in irrigated areas is about 150 percent, compared to rainfed areas where it is 100 percent. About 400,000 hectares fall under major irrigation schemes,<sup>13</sup> with 100,000 hectares under the Mahaweli irrigation scheme<sup>14</sup> and a further 300,000 hectares collectively managed - through about 300 small schemes - by the Irrigation Department of the government.<sup>15</sup> Many of the larger tanks are interconnected and feed a smaller network of canals. An additional 200,000 hectares fall under minor irrigation schemes (below 80 hectares each), managed by the Department of

> 9 Rice, the staple food in Sri Lanka, is grown in paddy fields.  A paddy field is a flooded parcel of arable land used for growing semiaquatic rice.

> (http://www.statistics.gov.lk/agriculture/Paddy%20Statistics/PaddyStats.htm)

> 10 http://www.ips.lk/irrigation-and-agriculture-in-sri-lanka/.

> 11 <u>http://www.fao.org/3/x6905e/x6905e0c.htm;</u>

> https://www.doa.gov.lk/rrdi/index.php?option=com_sppagebuilder&view=page&id=42&lang=en.

> 12Annual Bulletin, Labor Force Survey Sri Lanka (2017).

> 13 Major schemes have a command area of more than 600 ha. Minor schemes have a command area of less than 80 ha. Medium schemes have a command area of between 80 ha to 600 ha (North Western Province Water Resources Development Project In Sri Lanka, 2004).

> 14 Based on discussions with Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka, Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Environment.

> 15 Irrigation sector in Sri Lanka: Recent Investment Trends and the Development Path Ahead, IWMI.