Published in Scientific Papers. Series "Management, Economic Engineering in Agriculture and rural development", Vol. 15 ISSUE 4
Written by Naoko OKA, Takeru HIGASHIMAKI, D.D.Prabath WITHARANA, Mekonnen B.WAKEYO

In the dry zone of Sri Lanka, climate change is predicted to exert a severe impact on paddy cultivation. Paddy is cultivated with irrigation water from reservoirs called “tanks”, and decisions regarding water distribution from tanks are made by farmers in cultivation meetings which are held before cultivation seasons. In this study we focused on the bethma practice and other field crops cultivation which are potentially adaptation measures to climate change, but are not actively applied. This study tries to find constraints on applying bethma practice and other field crops (OFC) cultivation for better adaptation to climate change. We investigated the current status of bethma practice and of OFC cultivation, the reasons for the decline of bethma, and the manner in which farmers arrive at a consensus on water and land use. For the investigation we used survey data and observation of a cultivation meeting in a study area. We found that bethma is rarely applied at present and the reason is largely based on human perception of dislike of bethma, due to the unfairness in sharing responsibility in land use. This results in not only the decline of bethma but also disagreement on cultivating OFC with tank water. The lack of mechanism to arrive at a consensus between owners of suitable land and land users is a key constraint to practicing OFC using tank water. When farmers try to adapt climate change through water and land management or OFC cultivation, a new mechanism is necessary to ensure fairness in sharing responsibility for land use.

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