Sri lanka - Paddy field adaptation - practical action
1. Role of traditional paddy in
adapting Climate Change impacts
Varuna Rathnabharathie
2. Contents
• Paddy cultivation affects to CC
• CC affects to Paddy cultivation
• CC adaptation measures with case
studies
• What we can do?
3. Paddy cultivation affects to CC?
• 10-15 years ago paddy cultivation was
negatively affect to CC
• Due to flooding of fields
• CH4 emissions (GG)
• Machinery use, inorganic fertilizer
production, GG emitting chemical
usage, etc.
• With the world food crisis –
encouraging paddy and all crops from
food security aspects
4. Perception of CC by farmers
• Changing the rhythm of nature eg.
Rain indicators, cloud patterns, birds
• Failures of farming – low yield,
washing away the seed paddy, rains
at the harvesting time, half filled
grains
5. CC affects & impacts on Paddy
cultivation
• Increased atmospheric CO2 (more than
0.03%) concentrations –Grain yield up
to 27%
• Increased air temperature on spikelet
stage– > 31oC (1-2 oC)
- of yield
- of cross pollination, Weedy rice
- seed paddy quality
7. Rainfall and paddy
• Correct water management practices
• Proper agronomic practices eg.
Kekulama, Nawa kekulama, SRI
Varieties suits to water stress conditions
8. Best practice 1
-“Hata da vee”
paddy put in to
shallow drains
-Covered by
soil
-3 months dry
spell
-Plants could
withstand
without growing
or dying
Ampara, Uhana, Panagolla
yaya – 2009 August -Kind of
dormancy?
9. -Dry period
of 2 months
-Coastal
salinity
-Saline
came on the
earth
surface
-“Pokkali”
could
Hambanthota, Bundala, Oorani yaya - 2008 withstand
dry and
Variety & water holding capacity saline
of soil
conditions
10. Soil Salinity
Rain fall Inland
Evaporation
Salinity
Sea level Coastal Salinity
Salinity tolerant varieties and management practices
11. Best practice 2
-Coastal salinity
-Pokkali, Kalu heenati
and Madathawalu
performed well
-Average 70 Bushels/
acre
Hambanthota, Bundala - 2008
12. Best practice 3
Management practices
• Mulching (covering the soil)
• Organic manure
• Water management (wash away)
• Minimum soil preparation
• Manual weeding/ competitive paddy
verities/mulching
13. Potential of Low country wet
zone
High air temperature Low water scarcity
Maximum effort to get the full potential
yield
14. Best practice 4
“Maththamagoda method” – raised beds use to
avoid saline and iron toxic conditions in poor
drainage low country wet zone
16. Potential of Low country wet zone cont..
Erratic rain fall Increasing sea levels
Submerged Conditions
Flood resistant paddy varieties
17. Best practice 6
Ma ha
ma vee
grows
up to
12-15
feet
with
the
rising
of
flood
level
18. Ma vee seeds Ma vee stem cuttings
- Ma vee rice
- Same yield
from both
50 bushels/acre
19. Best practice 7
Ma ha ma
vee stem
cuttings
can plant
instead
of paddy
seeds
even
under
flood
situations
or un
expected
floods
20. New bio types resistant to pesticides and weedicides
•Resistant paddy varieties and eco friendly Natural systems
Best practice 8
Pest control by natural enemies – Needs to
maintain the whole system eco friendly
21. Seasonal shifting Best practice 9
• Long and short term varieties
70 days old 6 months old Ma
“hata da vee” ma vee
variety
22. Different types of planting materials
Best practice 10
Normal age of the maha ma vee by seeds – 6
months
If use stem cuttings - 3 ½ to 4 months
26. Climate change impacts
Dealing with Minimize
impacts risk
factors
Build
Respond
capacity
Fundamental
risks
27. 1. Fundamental Risks
Factors that weaken farmers/rural
communities to cope with climate
variation/change, e.g.
poverty
Land tenure security
Labour availability
28. 2. Building Response Capacity
Factors that enable farmers and their communities
to cope with climate variation/change, e.g.
Various seeds suitable for different conditions
Water resource management and plan
Food security
Not dependence on external inputs
Knowledge on appropriate technology
29. 3. Minimize Risk Factors
Enables farmers and their communities to
effectively manage the climate variation-
change
Monitoring and warning system of negative
weather conditions (e.g. Drought, flash
flood, land slide)
Readiness to deal with weather impacts
Climate communication
30. What Level of Adaptation
Adaptation at family level
Adaptation of community
Location level
31. Intervention
Raising “correct” awareness through
simple Singhala/Tamil language to the
correct groups
Develop adaptation pilot projects to
ground for the learning & research
Focus on agriculture & rural areas
Context of rising fuel costs
Setting up technical support unit
Need to develop tools and methodology
for working with small-scale producers
Building regional networks