No rain for three months: A food crisis waiting to happen?

Tea plants wiltering and dying in Horana

Rice plans yielding only empty husks.

Much of Sri Lanka is currently experiencing the worst drought since 1993. The rainfall during the last North-East monsoon (November to January) was below average in most parts of the country. The lack of sufficient rainfall caused all reservoirs in most parts of the dry zone to run dry.

Rice: An overall 35 per cent drop in paddy harvest expected in the current season has begun impacting the price of rice which is now seeing a steady increase, Sri Lanka’s The Sunday Times recently reported. Many farmers in the main paddy growing districts areas such as Anuradhapura, Kurunegala and Ampara are even considering alternative crops, the report said.

Tea: The prolonged drought in Sri Lanka has affected the tea cultivation and reduced the tea production by about 50 percent , the industry sources say. Tea Small Holding Development Authority says the tea small holders in Ratnapura, Kalutara, Galle and Matara districts have been affected by adverse weather. Around 400,000 small holders suffer due to the loss of income, the officials said. Planters and farmers say the drought is likely to cause long term damage to the plantations due to death of tea plants.

Hydropower: Receding water levels in hydropower reservoirs have dropped hydropower generation down to 16.1 percent and the thermal power generation has been increased up to 82.5 percent to meet the demand, the country's power authority, Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) said. Thermal power stations in Sri Lanka runs either on diesel, gas or other fuel oils. With the increase in thermal energy, the CEB is incurring heavy losses and the authority said it may be forced to impose power cuts soon if there is no rain to generate hydropower.

Drinking water: There is a growing shortage of drinking water supply in the Western Province. Salinity is increasing in both the Kalu Ganga and Kelani Ganga due to the drying up of underground water and low water levels in coastal area rivers. “The water allocated will be adequate until the first week of April. Last week’s rains too have lessened the salinity in the river water. Nevertheless the public are being requested to cut down water wastage and control consumption,” National Water Supply and Drainage Board General Manager Ranjith Balasuriya said.

Sources: BBC News, Ceylon Daily News, Sunday Times Sri Lanka.