Pilot project helping to reclaim Sri Lankan farms

A COMMANDO in an elite Sri Lankan police unit, Sameera Dilshan has an unusual mission to reclaim farms poisoned by salt, a long-standing problem now accelerating due to climate change.

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Increasing salinity is slowly and steadily swallowing traditional rice paddies along the island’s coastline, taking away the livelihood of generations of farmers.

Two hours south of the capital Colombo lies Katukurunda - one of the camps of the formidable Special Task Force (STF), an elite force created four decades ago to fight Tamil rebels.

While his colleagues train for riot control under the humid heat of the nearby Indian Ocean, the 35-year-old non-commissioned officer and his “commando-farmer” team are hoeing, weeding, and watering.

Their goal? To grow coconut palms and a wide variety of fruits and vegetables in a paddy declared dead 40 years ago due to salt water contamination.

“This plantation was launched in 2022 as part of a government initiative to improve food security,” Dilshan said, with local authorities allocating out land parcels.

The method - known as “sorjan”, is similar to techniques used in Thailand and Indonesia.