Implications for an Organic Future

In 2021 Sri Lanka became the first modern country to attempt to transition its agriculture sector to 100% organic practices, following a Governmental ban on the importation of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and weedicides. It did not go as planned.

In the growing season following the ban, rice yields plummeted over 30% across Sri Lanka, cratering farmer incomes and setting off a food security crisis. Though the ban on synthetic agrochemicals was rescinded after about six months, many Sri Lankan rice farmers have yet to fully recover their yields, Government of Sri Lanka data shows that average rice yields were about 14% below their pre-ban levels in the 2023/24 main growing season (the most recent available data). Leveraging UC Davis resources, JASTRO grant funding and international collaboration with the University of Peradeniya and the International Rice Research Institute, UC Davis International Agricultural Development (IAD) Graduate Student Alexis Heather has developed a multi-method project to explore how local rice farmer’s practices and perceptions may have influenced post-ban yield recovery for his IAD thesis.

Alexis’s IAD project utilizes remote-sensing, economic analysis and in-field surveys to understand the effects of the organic mandate on rice growers and how farmer practices may have influenced local yield recovery. To determine locations where rice yield recovery rates diverged, Alexis identified and cataloged rice framing areas in the Anuradhapura District with indicators of high versus low yield recovery represented in remote sensing crop health indices and district-level rice yield data. Alexis then spent four weeks in Sri Lanka, conducting surveys of rice farmers and collaborating with industry stakeholders to better understand farmer adaptation strategies and support networks. Analysis comparing reported farmer practices/outcomes with remote-sensing indicators is currently underway. Alexis hopes that findings from his project will help farmers and policy makers better understand the impacts of system wide agricultural transitions and inform the development of a more sustainable agricultural industry.