sri lanka - paddy field adaptation - practical action
TRANSCRIPT
Role of traditional paddy in adapting Climate Change impacts
Varuna Rathnabharathie
Contents• Paddy cultivation affects to CC
• CC affects to Paddy cultivation
• CC adaptation measures with case studies
• What we can do?
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
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
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
CC impacts and best practices for
adaptation
Rainfall and paddy
• Correct water management practices
• Proper agronomic practices eg. Kekulama, Nawa kekulama, SRI
Varieties suits to water stress conditions
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
-Kind of dormancy?
Ampara, Uhana, Panagolla yaya – 2009 August
-Dry period of 2 months
-Coastal salinity
-Saline came on the earth surface
-“Pokkali” could withstand dry and saline conditions
Hambanthota, Bundala, Oorani yaya - 2008
Variety & water holding capacity of soil
Soil SalinityRain fall
EvaporationInland
Salinity
Sea level Coastal Salinity
Salinity tolerant varieties and management practices
Best practice 2
Hambanthota, Bundala - 2008
-Coastal salinity
-Pokkali, Kalu heenati and Madathawalu performed well
-Average 70 Bushels/ acre
Management practices
• Mulching (covering the soil)
• Organic manure
• Water management (wash away)
• Minimum soil preparation
• Manual weeding/ competitive paddy verities/mulching
Best practice 3
Potential of Low country wet zone
High air temperature Low water scarcity
Maximum effort to get the full potential yield
“Maththamagoda method” – raised beds use to avoid saline and iron toxic conditions in poor drainage low country wet zone
Best practice 4
Organic fertilizer
Best practice 5
Potential of Low country wet zone cont..
Erratic rain fall Increasing sea levels
Submerged Conditions
Flood resistant paddy varieties
Ma ha ma vee grows up to 12-15 feet with the rising of flood level
Best practice 6
Ma vee seeds Ma vee stem cuttings
- Ma vee rice
- Same yield from both 50 bushels/acre
Ma ha ma vee stem cuttings can plant instead of paddy seeds even under flood situations or un expected floods
Best practice 7
Pest control by natural enemies – Needs to maintain the whole system eco friendly
New bio types resistant to pesticides and weedicides
•Resistant paddy varieties and eco friendly Natural systems
Best practice 8
Seasonal shifting
• Long and short term varieties
70 days old “hata da vee” variety
6 months old Ma ma vee
Best practice 9
Different types of planting materials
Normal age of the maha ma vee by seeds – 6 months
If use stem cuttings - 3 ½ to 4 months
Best practice 10
Simple Water management techniques
Best practice 11
Best practice 12
Best practice 13
Climate change impacts
Dealing with
impactsMinimize
risk
factors
Build
Respond
capacity
Fundamental
risks
1. Fundamental Risks
Factors that weaken farmers/rural communities to cope with climate variation/change, e.g.
poverty
Land tenure security
Labour availability
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
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
What Level of Adaptation
Adaptation at family level
Adaptation of community
Location level
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
Thank You !