“Sri Lanka will experience climate change issues in temperature, rainfall, evaporation and sea level rises in the future. The ban on agro -chemicals puts the entire country into a difficult scenario, immediate past president National Agribusiness Council Aruna Weerakoon said.
“This will affect a range of sectors, such as agricultural production, including export crops, in the future. Ban of agro- chemicals without a proper plan has resulted in a reduction of agricultural crop production, including commercial and export crops, Weerakoon told The Island Financial Review.”The entire agriculture sector will be impacted on account of changing weather patterns and climate. But with the increase in temperature, pest control becomes a major issue for farmers and the ban on pest control chemicals in the market adds insult to injury, Weerakoon said. “Water resources planning, development and management are essential for sustainable climate adaptation in Sri Lanka but due to a lack of knowledge on the part of farmers and a lack of funds/finance among them, the entire sector will likely be plunged into a major crisis, he said.
“Urgent action is needed to ensure Sri Lanka is better prepared to address future climate conditions, including anticipated extremes of flooding and drought, he added. Weerakoon said that when the temperature level goes up, pests become a real problem but, unfortunately, our farmers don’t have powerful chemicals to arrest the situation. Therefore, this would result in lower agricultural productivity in the country.
According to research presented at a recent conference, primary climate change effects on water resources include increased temperatures, changes in annual rainfall, changes in monsoon seasonality, increased variability and sea level rises.
Weerakoon explained that to feed the population, the commercial agriculture sector should be streamlined to withstand climate changes. “This could be done by introducing modern technology, like greenhouses, to the sector,” he said.
He said that surface and groundwater quality in coastal areas is also likely to be impacted, affecting important drinking water supplies including water to the agriculture sector.
This, in turn, will result in secondary effects, like increased transpiration, changes in river flows, groundwater recharge, snow and glacial melt.
