On 17/18.09.2010 a field visit to Trincomalee district was successfully arranged to observe the current agricultural practices and agricultural development activities currently being done in the area and special consideration was taken about the environmental impact from those inappropriate agricultural practices and how it cause to the eco-system imbalances.
The field visit were arranged to visit trincomalee area. Then especially we identify natural recourses that trincomalee area. Also we observed how to developing these area under Agricultural programmers and how much these development activities affect the natural resource.
The main economy activities in trincomalee are agriculture, fisheries, animal husbandry, and business. The agriculture crops are mainly rice, onions and vegetables, which were previously exported to other districts. Fisheries used to bring significant income to trincomalee and provided employment opportunities. Tourism was also a sizeable industry.
More than two decades of armed conflict between the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) led to a steady deterioration of agriculture development along with social and economic infrastructure. At the peak of the conflict in April-May 2006, an estimated 40,000 people were displaced within the district that included up to 30,000 in previously LTTE-controlled east Muthur and Eachchilampattai within and into neighbouring districts.
These people spontaneously returned to their places of origin, but were to become displaced again. During the Mavilaru Crisis during which the LTTE cut off water supplies to vast areas, this prompted a military intervention and more than 100,000 people were displaced to neighbouring districts.The process of resettlement in Trincomalee District started after 2006 and also after the prolonged war period. The resettlement in Trincomalee , consultation were held with Government Ministries/ Department, UN Agencies and NGOs in both Colombo and Trincomalee .This rapid resettlement is done in a unorganized manner without a proper planning, so many severe environmental problems have been arised.
Trincomalee has an agro-climatic environment that is very favourable to production of diverse crops and raising livestock. It also has long coastline, bays and lagoons that provide favourable grounds for various forms of fishing.During the pre-conflict years Trincomalee had very vibrant socio-economic conditions with agricultural production and fishing as the main livelihoods activities. The district has deep sea harbor and a major international seaport that has in turn attracted several national and multinational industries, and thus diverse opportunities for employment in different sectors specially in agriculture sector.
Agriculture is the main livelihood activity with an estimated 62% of the population depending on it. The agricultural season that runs from September to August the following year consists of two seasons: the main season, Maha (September to January) and the secondary season Yala (March to September).
Inappropriate agricultural development work
· Some large scale development projects
· Aquaculture and building construction projects
· Overfishing of the target resource
· Coconut plantation on mangrove area
· Inappropriate irrigation infrastructure
· Clearing of mangrove area
· Overexploited forests-including fragile mangrove ecosystems- for fuel wood
Adverse effect for the environment
- Losses in natural vegetation
- Reduced stream flow levels
- Increased sedimentation in reservoirs irrigation work.
- Flooding and landslides
- Use of agricultural chemicals, particularly pesticides
- Resource depletion
- Environmental damage and health consequences
- Direct loss of wetlands due to draining and conversion agricultural land.
- Indirect loss of wetlands area due to water withdrawal from Rivers and streams for Irrigation.
- Runoff of fertilizers causing excessive eutrophication leading to fish kills, toxic algal blooms and of aquatic flora and fauna.
- Loss of wetland area and function due to damming for water Storage.
- Loss of seasonal wetlands due to changed hydrologic cycle from water storage
- Loss of wetland function due to salinization, sediment deposition, erosion, eutrophication.
- Pollution from use of pesticides and other chemicals.
Promotion of Environmentally-friendly agriculture
The Biodiversity Action Plan for Agriculture recognizes the biodiversity benefits on agriculture, which allows the creation of new varieties and breeds for the achievement of economic, health, technical and ecological objectives. Agriculture benefits for biodiversity are also recognized, by maintaining both wild and domesticated plant and animal species, varieties or breeds, as well as ecosystems, at times under threat of Extinction, in case of non-intensive agriculture. Looking at the general causes of biodiversity deterioration in agro-ecosystems, the part played by the inappropriate agricultural farming in the general context of production intensification and under-utilization of land is also acknowledged. This is also the case in Trincomalee where more than half of all nutrient loads in the mangrove and tanks originate from agriculture, from private households and from agricultural industry.
Conclusion
This field visit extremely provided an opportunity to students for studying about the environment impact to the particular area and supported to improve the ability of decision making regarding sustainable agricultural improvements with minimum damages to the environment. At long last the much hoped for end to the LTTE and the terrorism and the liberation of whole of Sri Lanka have been achieved. While this is a cause for celebration by all Sri Lankans a different type of war and struggle has to be faced now. It is the responsibility of all of us to ensure the urgent, dignified and safe resettlement of all the displaced people who have suffered many years of untold hardship, and to create the environment for them to enjoy a free, sustainable and acceptable level of livelihood, once resettled preferably in their own villages. Crop production emerged as the main livelihood activity in this area. However, access to paddy and highland crop land remains a key challenge for many households. After the resettlement majority of the farmers production gas been declined.The main reason advanced by most of the farmlands was lack of irrigation or poor water supply. And also there are some portion of household food production(Home gardens) in the area.
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