Sri Lanka farmers face daunting task of replanting after cyclone

Sign up now: Get insights on Asias fast-moving developments

PALLEPOLA, Sri Lanka, Dec 19 - Mud and sand have swamped a rice crop across Kalanchi Dewage Rismans two-acre (0.8-hectare) tract that had just been starting to show green shoots when Cyclone Ditwah ripped through Sri Lanka.

I have to clear out the mud, level out the field, and then plant again, said Risman, 55, who earns his livelihood from rice farming, along with his wife and two sons, but faces the ‍prospect of ​going even deeper into debt to make a recovery.

Its already mid-December and rice planted this late wont provide a good harvest.

Replanting ‍is a daunting task after Ditwah flooded crops across 535,000 hectares (1.3 million acres),while government data shows more than 120,000 hectares (297,000 acres) have been completely washed away or buried under mud and sand.

FARMLAND DEVASTATED BY DITWAH

Ditwah hit key ​growing regions for ​rice, vegetables and maize farmed by nearly 1.8 million families when it scythed through the island of 22 million in November, killing 643 people and sending more than 70,000 into relief centres.

Just a fortnight before, nearly 800,000 farmers had cultivated 563,950 hectares (1.4 million acres) of paddy in the main growing season from November to February, United Nations estimates show.

But floods, prolonged inundation, and winds ‍have caused severe damage to about 95,799 hectares (237,000 acres) of other field crops, while 13,463 hectares (33,300 acres) of maize, pulses, bananas, and vegetables have also suffered.

Torrential rain and floods tore up 483 ​dams and 1,936 canals to swathe rice fields in central Sri Lanka in mud, ⁠the agriculture ministrys initial estimates showed.

Rice and vegetable farming supports about 300 families in the region and many are pooling