Sri Lanka faces food crisis as agri minister pleads with farmers to grow rice

02 Jun 2022 --- Sri Lankan farmers have been urged to boost their rice production as the country faces a growing food crisis adding to the heavy burdens of severe fuel shortages and unrest.

The country’s Minister of Agriculture, Mahinda Amarweera, has directly addressed farmers, encouraging them to boost rice planting.

“We request all farmers to step into their fields in the next five to ten days and cultivate paddy rice,” he says.

He also asked the general population to grow whatever they could in their home gardens, signaling that the situation would soon get out of hand.

In the same vain, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe warned of severe food shortages occurring as soon as this August.

Rice season critical importance
In a statement, Sri Lanka’s department of agriculture announced that 50% of the land expected to be cultivated for Maha rice, or about a quarter-million hectares of land, has already been harvested.

Nevertheless, the critical harvest will come at the end of the year, with half a million hectares expecting to be used for the Yala rice season. 

However, last season’s yields have been the worse in years, as President Gotabaya banned inorganic fertilizer and agrochemical imports. It was a short-lived ban – imposed for six months – but one that had severe consequences on the current harvests and the decisions needed to take for further food security strategies.

The UN Development Program (UNDP) put the crop loss down to the unavailability of fertilizers at 30%. 

With a reduced usage of fertilizers, food production took a severe toll.

According to the US Department of Agriculture, Sri Lanka has imported 650 metric tons of rice during 2021 to 2022, a meteoric increase from the 147 tons last year and the mere 16 tons imported in 2019 to 2020. 

These imports come at a time when Sri Lanka has been using the most land for rice crops since 2016. However, yields per hectare are lower than in the last years – 3.91 metric tons per hectare this year compared to 4.57 last or 4.85 two years ago.

 Sri Lanka has imported 650 metric tons of rice during 2021 to 2022, a meteoric increase from the 147 tons of last year.Fertilizer imports 
The Sri Lanka government is in permanent contact with India to secure fertilizer supplies.

“I discussed with ambassador Milinda Moragoda that 60,000 metric tons of fertilizer to be received from India should be delivered to us as soon as possible,” says Amarweera.

The island government is also affected by the supply shocks created by the Ukraine war, as there is a lack of fertilizers and the ones being used are not as efficient.

“We hope to request Russia and Ukraine to supply us with oil, fertilizer and gas,” adds Amarweera.

India’s helping hand
With domestic price surges nearing hyperinflation levels – rising to 39.1% this May – and a default that left the country out of foreign currencies – with less than US$2 billion in the bank in April, according to the UNDP– Sri Lanka has been forced to ask for food assistance.

Last week, India handed 9,000 metric tons of rice and 50 metric tons of milk powder in humanitarian aid from India. 

“More humanitarian consignments and other forms of assistance from India shall follow. Support extended to Sri Lanka ranges from economic assistance worth around US$3.5 billion,” as seen in a statement by the High Commission of India in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

India, which banned wheat exports this May, will continue to supply the now precious commodity to Sri Lanka. An exception to the trade restriction is made in the cases of countries that request wheat to meet food security needs.

The country is also starting the process of applying for international help at other food banks

such as from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.

By Marc Cervera