Web of Life

I refer to the news item in The Island of the October 14th, under caption, Farmer family makes hay while sun shines . I was delighted to read this item of news and especially happy that the farmer concerned was able to dispose of his crop at an attractive price.

Reference the query in this item of news, about why most of the farmers in the H Zone are not cultivating onions, I wish to present one possible reason. A trial plot of big onions was planted in the Ipolagama Block, Nochchiyagama, as far back as 1984. It was a very successful trial and a good harvest was on the cards. The farmer and his wife slaved a lot on the field to ensure a high yield and they were all smiles anticipating a lucrative financial return for their labour. But what followed was disaster. Just as it was time to harvest the crop, a shipload of big onions was unloaded at the Colombo Port. There was no market for the farmer’s crop thereafter. The farmer and his wife were soon seen at the Nochchiyagama town and Mahaweli Camp site, making house-to-house sales of their onion crop a pathetic sight indeed.

The farmer, on seeing the success of the trial plot (about 1/8th Ha in extent) had dreams of cultivating an extended area with big onions the next Yala season. Their dreams were shattered. No onion cultivation again for this farmer nor for other farmers of the area, who were witness to this experience!

During the Yala season, irrigation water is not sufficient for farmers to cultivate the full extent of their fields with in the Mahaweli H area. To compensate for this, other field crops were introduced. Chili was and still is grown very successfully, and so too, field crops as cowpea, green gram, black gram etc. The success of the big onion trial in the Ipologama area in 1984 and by the Eppawela farmer this year, proves beyond doubt that onion holds good prospect for the Mahaweli H area.

A trial plot of potato, was also grown in the Nochchiyagama area in the same year (1984), which was also very successful. I am unaware of any progress in this crop thereafter.

From the above, it would be seen that not only onions but also potatoes could be grown successfully in the H area. However, in promoting these crops, it should be ensured that the fate suffered by that onion farmer in 1984, would not recur.