Abstract:
Huruluwewa is a major Irrigation System, which is also known as a colonization scheme
that facilitates farming activities covering a massive capacity. However, in the drought
period, farmers in the left bank of the system face serious issues of inadequate water
supply for cultivation due to the geographical setting of the left bank. Therefore, this
study was aiming to find the availability of water management practices among farmers
as adaptation strategies in dry periods. This was a cross-sectional study done by using an
interviewer-administered questionnaire. The study sample consisted of 113 farmers of the
left bank and the data were analyzed by using descriptive-analytical methods. According
to the result, 78.2% of farmers used adaptation strategies, 19.3% avoided farming in the
dry season and 2.5% were in moderate. Among the farmers who were using adaptation
strategies, five approaches were found. One is using water from huge wells dug close to
the canal and one well is owned by 2-3 farmers mostly. However, it is a successful
technique, although they have not taken any permission or advice from the authority
when constructing. The others are; making land as moisture protected, cultivating paddy
only on a part of the farmland where has higher moisture level, using alternative shortterm crops which require less water, using multiple types of crops as in chena cultivation.
Using multiple crops also a wise method, as destroying 1-2 crops may not significantly
affect the farmers’ income. Finally, it can be concluded that, the majority of farmers
in the Huruluwewa Irrigation Scheme have succeeded in their cultivations using different
water management methods as adaptation strategies for drought. Further, the intervention
of authorities in constructing huge cultivation wells using precise techniques and
promoting multiple crop cultivation can be recommended.
Keywords: Adaptation strategies, Cultivation, Drought, Water management practices
