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 !