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Sri Lanka Cropping Pattern
Rice cultivation has increased markedly since Independence,
although in the late 1980s yields remained well below those of
the major rice-producing countries. Much of the improvement came
in the late 1970s and 1980s. Rice remained a smallholder's crop,
and production techniques varied according to region. In some
villages, it was still sown by hand, with harvesting and
threshing often engaging the entire family, plus all available
friends and relatives.
Because no completely perennial sources of water exist, there
was uncertainty regarding the adequacy of the supply each year.
In the wet zone, flooding and waterlogging was experienced in the
1980s, whereas in the dry zone even the irrigated areas were
subject to the possibility of insufficient water. In the mid- and
up-country wet zone areas, most fields were sown twice a year in
the 1980s; in the dry zone most holdings were sown only once; and
in the low-country wet zone the amount of flooding or
waterlogging determined whether to plant once or twice. The
maha
(greater monsoon--see Glossary) crops are sown
between August and October and harvested five or six months
later; the
yala
(lesser monsoon--see Glossary) crops sown
between April and May and harvested about four or five months
later.
Despite some increases in productivity, rice output was
disappointing in the 1960s and early 1970s. Greater incentives to
farmers after 1977 contributed to increases in production. Both
the area under cultivation and the yield increased steadily
between 1980 and 1985, when annual output reached 2.7 million
tons, compared to an annual output of around 1.4 million tons in
the early 1970s. In 1986 unfavorable weather and security
difficulties led to a slight decline in production. A severe
drought affected the crop in 1987, when output was estimated at
only 2.1 million tons.
Tea is Sri Lanka's largest export crop. Only China and India
produce more tea. The plants, originally imported from Assam in
India, are grown in the wet zone at low, middle, and high
altitudes, and produce a high-grade black tea. The higher
altitudes produce the best tea, and terracing is used to eke out
the limited area of upper altitude land. Tea cultivation is
meticulous and time consuming, requiring the constant and skilled
attention of two or three workers per hectare. Because of this
requirement, tea is most efficiently grown on estates, based on
large capital investment and having a highly organized and
disciplined management and labor supply.
Because working and living on estates was not attractive to
Sinhalese peasants, the labor supply for the tea industry from
its inception was provided by Indian Tamil immigrants who lived
on the estates. Since independence the number of Sinhalese
workers has increased, but in the late 1980s Tamils still
dominated this sector
(see Sri Lanka - Ethnic Groups
, ch. 2).
The performance of the tea industry was disappointing in the
1970s and early 1980s, because of poor producer prices and low
productivity. Tea production was 211 million kilograms in 1986,
down from 220 million kilograms in 1969. The fundamental problem
of the tea estates was the advanced age of the tea bushes. In
1987 their average age was around sixty years and only 15 percent
of the total area under tea had been replanted with high-yielding
varieties. Replanting had been neglected in the 1960s and 1970s
partly because low tea prices and high export duties meant that
profit margins were not high enough to make it a profitable
enterprise. Between 1972 and 1974, the growing risk of
nationalization also discouraged investment.
Rubber continues to be an important export crop in the late
1980s. It thrives under plantation conditions in the wet zone,
although a significant proportion of the crop is produced by
smallholders. Although rubber yields improved greatly in the
first twenty years after independence, both the output and area
planted with rubber declined in the 1980s. Output fell from 156
million kilograms in 1978 to 125 million kilograms in 1982.
Improved prices caused production levels to recover to about 138
million kilograms in 1986.
Despite the importance of rubber, a large number of rubber
plantations suffer from old age and neglect. The government
offered incentives to encourage replanting and improve
maintenance procedures. Nevertheless, the area replanted in 1986
was 12 percent less than in 1985. This drop in replanting
resulted from a shortage of seeds and the reluctance of farmers
to retire land from production at a time of relatively attractive
prices. In early 1988, however, the short- and medium-term
outlook for world rubber prices was considered good.
Most of the coconut production was sold in the domestic
market, which consumed about 1.4 billion nuts in the mid-1980s.
Most of the rest of the crop, usually between 2 billion and 3
billion nuts, was exported as copra, coconut oil, and desiccated
coconut. Local uses for coconut include timber for construction,
leaves for thatch and siding, coir for rope and rough textiles,
and toddy and arrack for alcoholic beverages.
Coconut output fluctuates depending on weather conditions,
fertilizer application, and producer prices. In the 1980s,
smallholders dominated its production, which was concentrated in
Colombo and Kurunegala districts and around the city of Chilaw in
Puttalam District. Because of a drought in 1983, production
suffered a setback during 1984 and fell to 1.9 billion nuts, its
lowest level since 1977. The recovery during 1985 was impressive,
leading to the record production of almost 3 billion nuts. This
level was itself surpassed in 1986, when production rose a
further 3 percent. But the average export price fell by 45
percent in 1985 and by 56 percent in 1986. In 1986 the farm gate
price probably fell below the cost of production, and in early
1988 it appeared that fluctuations in the world price of coconut
products would remain a problem for the foreseeable future. The
1987 drought was expected to reduce coconut production by at
least 20 percent in both 1987 and 1988. Like tea and rubber, the
coconut sector suffered from inadequate replanting. Consequently,
a large proportion of the trees were old and past optimum
productivity levels.
The importance of crops other than tea, rubber, and coconut
increased after 1970, and in 1986 they accounted for around 51
percent of agricultural output. There was a substantial increase
in of minor food crops, including soybeans, chilies, and onions,
all of which are grown as subsidiary crops on land irrigated by
the Mahaweli project. In the 1960s and earlier, vegetables were
imported from India in large quantities, but in the 1980s the
island's import requirements were much smaller. Spices, including
cloves, nutmeg, cardamom, and pepper, also registered large gains
in the 1970s and 1980s. A large proportion of the spice output
was being exported in the 1980s. Other crops of importance
included corn, millet, sweet potatoes, cassava, dry beans, sesame
seed, and tobacco. A wide variety of tropical fruits, including
mangoes, pineapples, plantains, and papayas, also were grown;
most were consumed in the domestic market. Sugar output increased
in the early 1980s, although in 1986 it still accounted for only
11 percent of the domestic consumption. The expansion in sugar
took place despite the problems of the state-run sugar mills and
their associated sugar lands in Eastern Province, which have been
disrupted by civil strife. Two new mills in Western Province
accounted for the increase in production, and in early 1988 the
outlook for further expansion was good.
Data as of October 1988
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