• Calls for tanks and reservoirs capacity renovation 

The National Agrarian Unity (NAU) organisation has rejected the Government’s strategic cultivation plan, proposed by the Agriculture Ministry as a mechanism to address the El Niño weather pattern by encouraging early planting for the Maha season.

The organisation said farmers were united in their decision not to follow the plan, claiming that it was based on predicted data rather than the actual factors essential for cultivation.

Speaking to The Daily Morning, NAU President Anuradha Tennakoon said the primary factor considered before commencing cultivation was the water storage capacity of reservoirs and other agricultural water bodies. He asserted that the Government, ignoring this reality, had formulated plans based on forecasts of future rainfall declines.

“The first factor that we consider before starting cultivation is that the water bodies have at least 50 per cent of water. At the moment, there’s no such capacity, and we aren’t going to take the risk. We don’t believe that they’d compensate us if the plan goes wrong either. We have decided not to follow the Government’s plan and to adhere to our usual farming schedules,” he said.

Tennakoon further criticised Government officials, stating: “The plans that Government officials make while being inside cold rooms don’t do any good on practical grounds. What they have to do is not make plans for farmers to grow but to renovate the tanks to store water.”

He also accused the Irrigation Department of failing to renovate tanks and reservoirs for 70 years.

“In the Kala Wewa system, 30% to 40% of the water capacity is filled with silt. Of the minor irrigation schemes, out of the 24,000 tanks, most are not renovated to date. There are 54 large-scale reservoirs, and these haven’t been cleared of silt. What they are doing is making a spillway, a sluice, or strengthening the dam of the tank under the pretext of renovating. This does not enhance the capacity of these tanks,” he said.

He noted that the latest large-scale renovation of the Kala Wewa took place in 1970, and that this too was only a renovation of the dam.

“Renovating these water bodies is a must to store more water, which would help cultivation even when rainfall is reduced,” he added.

The comments from the organisation come in light of the Government’s plan to begin this year’s (2026) Maha cultivation season about a month earlier than usual to safeguard the country’s rice supply against any disruption that could arise from anticipated El Niño conditions.

Predicting unstable weather conditions that could affect cultivation during the Maha season if the usual schedule is followed, the Government has suggested early planting to launch cultivation before El Niño hits.

Multiple attempts to contact Deputy Agricultural Minister Namal Karunarathne and Director General of Irrigation engineer Dr. K. Weligepolage proved futile.