This conference on "the Climate Change Impacts and Sustainability in Paddy Farming in Asia" is
organized by the International Network for Water and Eco Systems in Paddy Fields. Most of the
public believe that paddy fields are important for us because of the contributions towards food
security, flood control and groundwater enrichment. These Ecosystems are also important for
the human race because of their role in water quality preservation and biodiversity conservation.
Recently, the capacity of Sri Lankan paddy fields to serve the purpose of water quality
preservation has been questioned. Agrochemical and pesticide use by the farming community
effecting quality of surface and groundwater is considered as a major culprit causing Chronic
Kidney Disease among the dry zone farmer families (Daily Mirror, n.d., para 3). As it is already
known, His Excellency the President of Sri Lanka is making active contributions to protect the
paddy field ecosystems from uncontrolled agrochemical and pesticide use (President of Sri
Lanka, n.d., para. 3). At this moment when the water quality in the short term is in safe hands, as
water and irrigation professionals it is our duty to carefully look at water management in
irrigated paddy cultivation systems especially under the light of global climate change.
Although prevailing management approach may enable the survival of irrigated paddy
cultivation systems under hardships, climate change impacts will bring enhanced insecurity to
the irrigated paddy cultivation farmers in Sri Lanka because the lack of a pragmatic approach
and weak technical capabilities would cause a threat when attempting to provide evidence based
sustainable solutions.