Abstract:
The demand of rice will increase at 1.1 % per year in Sri Lanka and the rice production
should grow at the rate of 2.9% per year to fulfill this demand. GIS (Geographic
Information System) has been known as a powerful tool to understand spatial data
analysis and this tool is recently applied to agricultural sector as well. This technique
can be applied to paddy sector also in order to increase the paddy production through
proper information management.
An extensive field survey was conducted to collect soil samples throughout the
Kamburupitiya Divisional Secretariat Division. Soil samples were collected from 77
sampling sites at a depth of 5-20 cm and GPS locations were recorded. Machinery
information related to Paddy production was collected using questionnaire survey.
Information related to yield was collected from the Agrarian Services centers. pH
values of Soil samples were measured using a pH meter. Soil Organic Carbon and
Nitrogen were analyzed using Walkley and Black rapid titration method and Kjeldhal
method respectively. Distribution map of pH and organic carbon were prepared by
applying interpolating methods in GIS. ArcView GIS software was used for the spatial
analysis and mapping.
Results of the study revealed that Soil Organic Carbon percentage ranged from 0.27
%to 3.64%. Soil pH ranged from 3.06 to 7.3. Soil Nitrogen content was very low and it
ranged from 0.021% to 0.235%. The Land Area with Suitable pH and Organic Carbon
for paddy crop were estimated as 3936.9 ha and 791.9 ha respectively. Four major
groups of varieties were found and many of those were limited to some GN divisions.
Yield per unit area varied from 1111.3 to 4769kg/ha/year. Paddy Lands are cultivated
under the Major Irrigation, Minor Irrigation and Rain fall. Major Irrigations are limited
to the middle part of the DS Division. Minor Irrigations are limited to the Western part
of the DS Division. Flood effected Paddy lands are found in the Western Part.
Two wheel Tractors, Four wheel Tractors, Threshers, Harvesters, Sprayers and Rice
Mills arc the mainly used machineries. Considerable numbers of above machineries are
present but the distribution is poor.
