AGRICULTURE IN THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF SRI LANKA’ … conference organised by the Ceylon Studies Seminar ……16th – 19th August, 1974 …… at the In Service Training Centre, Gannoruwa
** The times of the mid-morning and afternoon tea-breaks will be announced each day.
** The names of the chairman and the discussant for each session will be indicated in a list which will be circulated later.
** The two papers marked with an asterisk may not be available for discussion.
A symbolic natural phenomenon from the Peradeniya University campus …. anticipaing potential prospects from the intellectual flowerings generated within its portals
15th THURSDAY EVENING: Arrival of participants who are not in the Peradeniya-Kandy area.
16th FRIDAY
9.00 – 9.20 a.m. :- Opening Remarks: Michael Roberts
9.20 – 10.00 a.m. “Aspects of Recent Agricultural Policy” …. A Talk by T. Jogaratnam
10.00 – 1.00 p.m. The Plantation Sector
- E. Jayanetti “The Changing Role of Diversification in the Development of Tea and Rubber Areas”
A.B. Dissanayake : “An Analysis of the Production Costs and the Profitability of Rubber Estates”
LUNCH
2.00 – 5.30 p.m. Land Reform and Land Tenure
Nimal Sanderatne : “Leading Issues in Sri Lanka’s Land Reform”
L. J.M. Cooray: “Some Legal Implications of Sri Lanka’sReform Legislation”
Hiran Dias & B.W.E. Wickramanayake: “The Gambara System in the Hambantota District”
M.A. Ommen*: “Land Reform in Kerala”
5.45 p.m. :- RECEPTION
17th SATURDAY 17th SATURDAY
8.45 – 10.30 a.m. … Smallholdings and Smallholders
T. Jogaratnam : “The Small Farmer in Sri Lanka”
K. Izumi: “The Productivity of Land and the Economic Nature of Peasant Rent in the Paddy Sector in Sri Lanka”
10.45 – 12.45 p.m. …. Aspects of Rural Sociology
I.K. Weerawardena : “The Role of Rural Institutions in the Development of agriculture in Sri Lanka”
Ganewatte : “Patterns of Leadership at the Village Level”
John Harriss : “Aspects of Rural Society in the Dry Zone relating to the Problem of Intensifying Paddy Production”
LUNCH
1.45 – 2.30 p.m. …. Bibliographical Aids: Problems of Location and Presentation
A. Gunapala: “A Bibliography on Agriculture in SriLanka”
2.30 – 4.30 p.m. Field Research Methods and Problems which will be introduced by Hiran Dias and which will draw on the experiences of the UCARTI project on Agrarian Change
4.45 – 6.15 p.m. Spatial Aspects of Agriculture
Vidya Samarasinghe : “Spatial Implications of Agricultural Development in Sri Lanka”
18th SUNDAY
8.45 – 10.45 a.m. The Mahaveli Project
- Maheswaran: “Mahaveli Ganga Development – Project One; Its likelyImpact on Agricultural Production”
- S. Jayaratne: “The Proposed Settlements and the Existing Villages in
the Mahaveli Development Area”
- W. J. G. Mendis: “Spatial Policy Considerations in theEconomic
Development of the Mahaveli Region”
11 00 – 1.00 p.m. Water Resources
CM. Madduma Bandara.:“The Prospects of Recycling SubsurfaceWater for Supplementary Irrigation in the Dry Zone”
Robert Chambers : “On Substituting Political and Administrative will for Foreign Exchange: The Potential for Water Management in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka”
LUNCH
2.15 – 5.15 p.m. Settlements
Narayanasamy: “New Approaches to Settlements in Sri Lanka”
Nihal Amerasinghe : “An Empirical Approach to Settlement Planning”
Antony Ellman : “Management of New Settlement Schemes in Sri Lanka
H. N. C. Fonseka: “Land Use in Purana Villages in the Kala-Oya Basin: ACase Study of Four Villages”
5.15 – 6.15 p.m. :-Spill-Over Session kept free for discussion of themes which aroused controversy in the preceding sessions.
19th MONDAY 19th MONDAY
8.45. – 10.30 a.m. Rural Credit 9.30 – 11.00
R. C. G. O. Gunasekera –“Institutional Credit to the Peasant Sector ThroughCo-operatives
Nimal Sanderatne: “Agricultural Insurance in Peasant Agriculture: Sri Lanka’s Experience: 1958-1973”
10.45 – 12.30 p.m. Service Centres 11.00 – 12.00
Barbara Harriss: “The Analysis of Transactions and of Urban-Rural Parasitism: An Indian and Sri Lankan Comparison”
12.00 – 1.00 LUNCH
1.30 – 3.15 p.m. Transportation and Marketing 1.45 – 3.00
- Sunderalingam: “Transport and Marketing in Sri Lanka with Special Reference to Agriculture
Upali Nanayakkara: “Improving the Level of Performance in the Marketingof Subsidiary Food Crops, Fruits and Vegetables in Sri Lanka – The Role of the private Sector”
Ariya Abeysinghe : “Commodity Marketing with special reference to the Export Prospects for Selected Tropical Perennial Plantation Crops from Sri Lanka”
3.15 – 4.30 p.m. Mechanisation and Its Problems 3.30- 4.30
Barbara Harriss : “The Economics and Spatial Relations of Traction andIts Implications for Rural Indebtedness in HambantotaDistrict of Sri Lanka”
. 4.45 – 6.00 p.m. A Green Revolution?
- Mathew Kurian* : “India’s ‘Green Revolution” …..with T. Jogaratnam as discussant describing the situation in Sri Lanka.
We have also received a cable indicating that Ronald J. Herring will be presenting a paper. No details. But this is likely to be under…..
LIST OF CHAIRMEN and DISCUSSANTS
Title of Session Chairman Discussant
Land Reform and Land Tenure Michael Roberts Anthony Ellman
The Plantation Sector C. R. de Silva B. Hewavitharana
Smallholdings & Smallholders A.T. Mosher Sarath Amunugama
Rural Sociology Sarath Amunugama Ron Herring
Bibliographical Problems C. R. de Silva P Wickramasekera
Field Research Methods Rainer Schickele Hiran Dias
Spatial Aspects of Agriculture George Thambyahpillay Percy Silva
Mahaveli Project B. Hewavitharana Robert Chambers
Water Resources S. W. R. de Samarasinghe John Harriss
Settlements Hiran Dias Rainer Schickele
Rural Credit Robert Chambers N. Balakrishnan
Service Centres C. Narayanasamy A. T. Mosher
Transportation & Marketing SWR. de Samarasinghe Barbara Harriss
Mechanization RCGO. Gunasekera Piyasiri W’ sekera
A PREFATORY NOTE: OBJECTIVES
When I was scrabbling and rooting around for funds (actually, this task was rendered very pleasant), so to speak, it became necessary to clarify the objectives and envisaged benefits from such a conference. The arguments ran somewhat on these lines:
- That in demanding written papers for the conference, researchworkers and administrators would be prompted or compelled to organise their thoughts and sharpen them still further in the course of putting pen to paper or finger to typewriter.
- That the discussions would pinpoint weaknesses in the focusand/or in the research methodology of those engaged in research work, and specifically in those who tested their ideas out by presenting papers, while at the same time suggesting improvements in approach.
- That in bringing personnel from different disciplines into onearena, the conference would lead each person to take cognisance of other approaches and other disciplinary techniques than his/her own; in short, to encourage a greater breadth of focus and a readiness to take note of more alternatives.
- That in bringing together in one arena a number of researchworkers and scholars from a wide variety of institutions and fields it would further contacts which could be pursued in the future and which could engender greater cooperation in research activity than exists at present.
- That it would indicate those areas in which several individualsand institutions seem to be conducting research, thereby providing the means of preventing unnecessary duplication of work inthe future.
- That it would highlight some of the gaps in the survey andresearch material that is presently available on agriculture andagricultural economics in Sri Lanka.
- That it would assist in pinpointing some of the priorities forresearch work in the near future.
- That the papers and discussions might conceivably produce guidelines for policy-formulation and decision-making.
Now, all this will be food for the skeptics (or is it fuel they use?). And such scepticism will be compounded by doubts regarding the degree to which the decision-takers will be receptive to any guidelines that are hammered out. Nevertheless, I venture to reiterate these goals for our activities in the next few days. The degree to which they will be achieved, of course, is in yourhands (and minds).
Finally, I would, on behalf of the Ceylon Studies Seminar, like to thank those individuals who have provided the ‘material’ foundations for our discussions and those institutions which have broken new ground in providing the economic foundations for our gathering.……………………. Michael Roberts
REQUESTS and NOTES FOR PARTICIPANTS
First of all, Greetings.
* We tend to favour an informal, friendly atmosphere, but one in which frank and direct criticism is given and taken.
* It is important that the last two rows of seats in the conference hall should be left free for the (incorrigible?) latecomers. In short, those-first-in please pack the middle and the front.
* Tea breaks will be taken within the hall and the refreshments will be served.
* We will be providing lunch to those listed as participants. We would appreciate it if you sign the lunch register as you come in each morning so that we know how many meals to prepare.
* If you have any requests regarding food, accommodation, etcetra, please take each of your requests to the relevant officers or dogsbodies. As we have subdivided duties, it is important that the right person should be approached:
with Assistance from
Food : W. M. Sirisena Vidya Samarasinghe
Accommodation : Nihal Amerasinghe M. Sinnathamby
Transport : C. M. Madduma Bandara Y. R. Amarasinghe
Conference Programme : S. W. R. de Samarasinghe
Conference Facilities : N. Balakrishnan, M. Sinnathamby, Sarath Gunasekera
Rapporteur Arrangements : Piyasiri Wickremasekera
Shroff : N. Balakrishnan
For those housed within the In-Service Institute
* There is a dinner list on the same basis as the lunch register. Sign in for dinner by: …………at the latest. No signature means no dinner!
* We hope to have arrangements to place a car at your disposal during the period 6.00 p.m. to 9.00 p.m. This facility will be a limited one: to and from the Peradeniya Resthouse and to any point within the campus (other than Mahakanda).
Contact Dr, Madduma Bandara re details.
EMAIL COMMENT from PROFESSOR Barbara Harriss-White, 7 October 2024;
THANK YOU! That was a trip down a half century of memory lane – the first such a conference and a well organised and memorable one too. I remember with embarrassment Ron Herring asking me how I knew co-op managers were ‘telling the truth’ and I have wondered ever since what the truth might be in interviews. A very good lesson for subsequent work.
I have the impression that there is no young generation doing the kind of research on rural Sri Lanka that was put under scrutiny in that meeting. I hope I am wrong…… Barbara
https://fas.org.in/ysoss/
Prof Barbara Harriss-White, FAcSS,
Emeritus Fellow, Wolfson College,
Linton Road, Oxford, OX2 6UD, UK
In Hindsight
It is interesting to look at the agenda of this workshop and and ask what questions (and topics) should have been raised at that time, in hindsight, in the context of a number of issues where the Mahaweli project went very badly wrong.
Although there are many issues to consider where it made mistakes, I will here write on just one issue that led to the deaths of thousands of farmers, begining from late 1990s, begining mostly in the Mahaweli C project area (I think).
Mahweli is all about water and settlement of people (not “colonization”. That word should be reserved for action or process of settling among and establishing control over the indigenous people of an area, etc., see Oxford Dictionary). People were settled in new land opened up by the new availability of water for farming and for life.
The topics discussed then do not look at the envirnmental impact of a massive irriation project like the Mahaweli. However, the outlook in the 1960s and early 1970s was somewhat naive and environmental impact was not taken seriously. Even questions like schooling and pay areas for children, and medical facilites for the settlers were left as subsidiary matters secondary to the big job of
hydaulic engineering. The question of the availability of good drinking water for settlers was never raised.
In going from the Mahaweli project to the accelerated Mahaweli project, the number of setters was increased, and many were settled in higher ground AWAY from the river or associated irrigation canals. They were given areas for paddy cultivation in the lower land, but their homesteads and vegetable gardens were higher up in elevation. As such, these settlers living on hugh ground dug wells close to their homes and consumed well water, while the paddy plots were irrigated using Mahaweli water.
If we consider a a village like Ginnoruwa (in Girandurukotte), it has three adjacent villages, namely Badulaupura (B), Dolahekanuwa (D), and Sarabhoomiya (S). All three villages were settled in the 1980s and almost all are farmers who came from Badulla District in the Uva province. There were many other such settlements during this period, in many dry zone areas irrigated by the Mahaweli project.
By the late 1990s, medical officers noted the rise of a new type of chronic kidney disease among these settlers. Unlike normal chronic kidney disease (CKD) which is accompnied by signs of diabetes and hypertension, this new CKD showed no such symptoms until very late into the disease.
Its origin (aetiology) was a puzzel and hence the disease was named CKDu, or chronic kidney disease of unknown aetiolpgy. By about 2005-2010 CKDu had reached epidemic proportions, causing a major health concern and breaching the capacities of medical services of the region.
A number of “theories” regarding CKDu soon emerged among the public.
(i) It was conjectured that the farming techniques that used fertilizers and pesticides were causing the disease, and that Mahweli brough along an additonal surfiet of such agrochemical residues from the tea-plantation hills that provided the catchment area of the Mahaweli.
(ii) An occult dimension was added to this conjecture when an academic of the Kelaniya University (late Dr. nalin de Silva) and some of his students (noteby, Channa Jayasumana) claimed that God Natha had revealed that the water and the soil of the Rajarata region were contaminated b y Arsenic, brought in via the fertilizers and herbicides applied by the farmers. This was also taken up by Ven. Aturaliye Ratana, a poltical monk, and Dr Sanath Gunatilleke, a California Medic. Channa Jaysumana, Sanath Gunatilleke and Ms. Senanayake (a clairvoyant)published a paper claiming that Arsenic and glyphoste in the hard water of the region were the cause of CKDu.
(iii) A third theory proposed by the geologists and chemists of the Peradeniya University was that the disease-endemic areas were geologically rich in fluoride, and that the water consumed by settlers who got sick contained elevated levels of fluoride.
The claim that agrochemicals were the cause resonated with a lot of urban intellectuals and politicians. They were able to get the popular herbicide glyphosate banned, and later they got all fertilizers banned, during the time of President Gotabhaya. This led to economic collapse of the agriculture sector and triggered an uprising that eventually led to Gotabhaya’s ouster.
Meanhwhile, field studies of the water consumed by the farmers, and the incidenc eof CKDu have (in my oinion) clairified the origin of CKDu.
Most farmers who consume water from the irrigation system do NOT contract CKDu. Farmers in the Hill country who use agrochemicals extensive do not contract CKDu. Hence the cause of CKDu cannot be agrochemical residues. A WHO study [BMC Nephrology, 14, 180 (2013)]., and several other studies found that the Mahaweli water is not significantly contaminated with agrochemicals.
Goging back to the village of Ginnoruwa, the people who lived in Sarabhoomiya village, which was close to the irrigation water system, did NOT get CKDu. However, those who lived in Badulupura, on higher ground, and used their dug wells contracted CKDu. Chemical analysis has shown that these Badulupura wells are rich in fluoride and electrolyte ions like Magneisum and Calcium. [Balasooriya et al Exposure and Health. 12, 823 (2020).]
When such water was fed to laboratory mice, they too ended up with damaged kidneys, as established in a key research paper by Wasana et al [Nature Reports 2017] and in interpretive studies [Dharma-wardana, Environ Geochem & Health. 40, 705 (2017)].
Today, it is accepted that CKDu can be prevented by supplying clean drinking water to the settlers.
So, if the Mahaweli planners had, in the 1970s, done simple chemical analysis of well water in the Mahweli settlements, and tested the water to detrmine if the water is suitable for drinking, a major medical catastrophe could have been avoided, and thousands of lives could have been spared.
Even the poltical history of Sri lanka may have been different as there would have been no incentive to ban agrochemicals and create the peasent uprising that triggered the Aragalaya.
See: https://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2023/01/05/the_us_must_learn_from_sri_lankas_green_policy_mistakes_873852.html
Pingback: The Mahaweli Development Project In Hindsight | Thuppahi's Blog