Following the catastrophic Cyclone Ditwah that hit some regions of Sri Lanka in Nov 2025, some of the Natural Farming Global experimental plots were flooded. After five days of submersion, when floods abated our teams observed significant resilience in the plots that had been seeded with Natural Farming methods in comparison to the chemical, control plots.
Sri Lankan farmer, Chandana, who has been participating in the Anuradhapura natural farming scaling since August of 2025, told NOW’s Laura Santucci and Sarvodaya’s Chamari Lakmali, “After the cyclone, we saw that about 70% of the naturally farmed rice paddies survived the flooding. We only had to replant about 30%.”
“My chemical plots had more damage – about 75% was destroyed and needed to be replanted. These had been seeded with a shallower broadcast method, and could not withstand the flooding.”
NOW’s team visited the pilot farms with Sarvodaya’s Chamari Lakmali, RySS Executive Director Neeraja Sastry and Pavani Chavva. Now recovering from the cyclone, the pilot adaptation process and pilot growth continues to advance. Thanks to the great farmer communities who shared their works in progress.
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Further information:
Natural Farming Global: www.naturalfarming.global
Rythu Sadhikara Samstha / APCNF: www.apcnf.in
NOW Partners Foundation: www.now.partners
Global Academy: www.GlobalAcademy.world
