The High -Yield Dilemma of Growing Rice
For two millennia Sri Lanka’s self-image has been bound to one crop: rice. The rice farmer is also venerated. The scantiness of the loincloth, the sunburnt sweat-soaked dusky skin, the mud-caked limbs straining muscle and sinew at the plough, evoke strong emotions-a poignant throwback to plentiful food over the millennia. But is rice farming sustainable?