Sri Lanka’s red rice shortage: a clash of demand, supply challenges and political colouring
Red rice, a culturally significant staple in Sri Lanka, is in short supply due to factors like increased demand, reduced cultivation, and use of stocks for animal feed and beer production. Despite adequate rice supply overall, this shortage is attributed to political distribution practices and adverse weather conditions. Climate change poses additional risks to rice farming, with projected temperature increases threatening future crop yields.
Colombo, January 14 (Daily Mirror) – Red rice which holds both cultural and dietary significance is now in short supply in the market, and the phenomenon is attributed to multiple factors despite political colouring of the issue.
In Sri Lanka, rice is the staple. The coarse varieties called Nadu, Samba and Keeri Samba are available in the market as raw or par-boiled versions. Imported Basmati is consumed by a niche crowd only.
Red rice has cultural significance. They are consumed widely in the Northern Province and the Southern Province in particular.
At the moment, rice is generally in adequate supply in the market but red rice and white raw or Nadu rice are not sufficiently available at times in some places in the market, according to a market observation by Daily Mirror.
Trade Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe attributed the shortage of red rice to the free distribution during the time of the last government among some low-income families ahead of the elections.
However, W.H. Gamini, the Chairman of the Rice Producers’ Association in Tissamaharama which is a major red rice cultivating area, said the increased demand for consumption, the reduced acreage of cultivation and the use of stocks for manufacturing animal feed and beer resulted in the market imbalance.
“When I started my business operations in Tissamaharama around 25 years back, I was able to sell 25 kilos of red rice a day, whereas I could sell as many 400–500 kilos of white rice. Today, it is totally different. People consume red rice increasingly due to health factors. They believe red rice is better for people with diabetes,” he said.
He said the shortage will disappear from the market within a couple of weeks because the crop is being harvested in some areas at the moment.
Besides, a top official of the Trade Ministry said any substitute for Sri Lankan red rice could not be imported.
“We also find a market imbalance in supply. Farmers appear to have cultivated white varieties more,” he said.
Rice farming was hit by adverse weather conditions for the current reason.
There was a loss of 338,446 acres of paddy fields and 137,880 farmers have been affected by the destruction caused by the recent Bay of Bengal low pressure area, according to the Agrarian Development Board.
Sri Lanka’s 2.5 million farmers comprise 30 per cent of the country’s workforce and are engaged in two cultivation seasons.
According to a 2021 climate change report by the World Bank, Sri Lanka is among the most vulnerable countries to climate change. Acute temperature rises are projected to be faster than average. Climate change has become a huge threat to Sri Lankan farmers, whose mainstay is cultivating climate-sensitive paddy.
“Climate change could influence food production via direct and indirect effects on crop growth processes. Direct effects include alterations to carbon dioxide availability, precipitation, and temperatures,” The report mentioned.
Another report by Research Square on the impact of climate change on paddy crops states that climate change has a significant impact on Sri Lanka. In particular, paddy cultivation is highly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change.
“Temperature increases of more than 2 degrees Celsius will have a significant negative impact on rice production. The influence of temperature variation on rice production is greater than the influence of rainfall variability on rice production. If the temperature increases by more than 4 Celsius it will cause a 30 per cent crop loss. If it is combined with the 50 per cent increase in rainfall, it will cause a decline in average paddy production of 32.13 per cent,” the report by Research Square says.
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Source : Daily Mirror
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