Jaffna Peninsula

For other uses, see Jaffna (disambiguation).

The Jaffna Peninsula (Tamil: யாழ்ப்பாண குடாநாடு Yalpana Kudanadu) is a geographic land mass north to the Northern Province of Sri lanka. It includes the broad regions of Valikamam, Vadamarachchi and Thenmarachchi.

Peninsula to the northern region of the province

Geography and Climate

The peninsula is mostly surrounded by water, connected to the rest of the island by a small strip of land. Its underground water is used for drinking, agriculture and industry. Paddy cultivation is rain fed but only for three months during the North East monsoon period. The total land area including inland water is 1,030 km².

The climate is of tropical monsoonal with a seasonal rhythm of rainfall. The temperature ranges from 26 C to 33 C. Annual precipitation ranges from 696 mm to 1125 mm. It is evenly spread over the area. The north east monsoon rain (October to January) accounts for more than 90% of the annual rainfall. The Jaffna peninsula is divided into two agro-ecological regions.

Jaffna features a tropical rainforest climate with no true dry season month. Jaffna has the highest average temperature in Sri Lanka – 83 °F (28 °C). The temperature is highest in the months of April – May and August – September. The temperature is coolest in December – January. The annual rainfall is brought in by the North East monsoon and it varies from one place to the other and also from year to year. The average rainfall is 50 inches in the western part of Jaffna peninsula.

The terrain is almost flat and of low elevation except in the central part of the western sector in the area around Tellippalai, where the elevation rises 10.5 m above sea level. From there it slopes gently towards the south and south east, while to the north the elevation tends to drop abruptly.

Economy of the Peninsula

The total population of the peninsula is around 600,000. Agriculture and fisheries have been the principal economic activities of the district. Over 60% of the work force depends on agriculture for their livelihood. About 86,000 families engage in agriculture while another 15,000 families engage in fishing. Agriculture here contributes substantially to the GNP of the province. The land cultivated by 48% of the hard working farmers does not belong to them. The average land holding area is around 0.5 to 0.75 acres (3,000 m²). Unemployment in the rural areas is 27.9% while in the urban area it is 25.8%. The capital city of Jaffna serves as a business, educational and religious hub.

Water resource from a dry or salty peninsula

Water is extracted from open wells for domestic and agricultural purposes. Approximately 28,000 wells serve both domestic and agricultural purposes. Water available in these wells and its quality varies from place to place. Out of most of deep wells in the Valikamam division, water is available for irrigation purposes throughout the year. These wells are situated in the calcic red-yellow latosols and their immense depth varies from 20 to 25 feet (7.6 m). The wells available in other areas are shallow (10 to 15 ft).

Livestock grazing

The livestock sector is an important component of the farming system. Up to 1950, only local cattle and goats were reared for milk and meat, with the establishment of artificial insemination in 1950 exotic cross breeds such as Jersey and Indian breeds of cattle were introduced and high milk yield was obtained. Further Jamunapari and Sannan breeds of goats were also introduced for meat and milk. With this introduction of new breeds many farmers started rearing cross breeds of cattle, goat and poultry. From 1950 to 1984 live stock enterprise developed very fast and it was a single or supplementary source of income for nearly 30% of the district population. Backyard poultry and rearing milking cows and goat for milk and meat generate additional income for the farmers. Livestock population reduced to a considerable extent during the last two decades due to the ethnic unrest. Nows its up the farmers to rebuild and restart this vital sector !!

Crop/Agricultural production

The agriculture sector both crop & livestock contribute around 65% of the total gross domestic product of the peninsula. Major cash crops like chili, onion, tobacco, potato and banana are produced in large extent to meet the substantial portion of the peninsulas and national requirement. Further fruits like mango, Grapes and jack are also produced in large quantities.

Paddy

Total paddy land available for the cultivation is 12,000 hectares out of which nearly 8000 hectares (64.6%) are being cultivated. About 2000 hectare of paddy land is being identified as marginal due to the salinity issues. Paddy is cultivated as a mono crop in 85% of the paddy fields. The remaining 15% of the paddy fields are used for vegetable and field crops with modern irrigation techniques. The average yield is about 50 bushels per acre (2.5 mt/ha). However, 30%-40% of farmers who cultivate improved varieties are able to obtain yield of 70 bushels per acre (3.5 mt/ha).

Vegetables

Vegetables are being cultivated throughout the year with the help of irrigation via the wells. Low country vegetables such as brinjal, tomato, long bean, okra, snake gourd, bitter gourd and other leafy vegetables are being cultivated and available throughout the year. Exotic vegetables like cabbage, leeks, beet, beans, and carrots are also cultivated to a large extent.

Field crops

Among the other field crops, onion, potato, tobacco, chili and banana are cultivated as cash crops because farmers obtain considerable income from these crops. Total extent of high land available for cultivation is 7,851 ha. Of which 1.642 ha (21%) is unable to cultivate due to army security reasons. At present field crops and vegetables are cultivated in 4200 ha with the help of lift irrigation via the wells.

Perennial Crops

Perennial crops include the orchard crops like mango, jack, grapes, citrus, palmyrah and coconut. Coconut is grown in home stead in the extent of 1470 ha. Other perennial crops are grown in 1500 ha. Further nearly 3.5 million palmyrah palms are available in Jaffna. Farmers generate considerable income from fruit crops, like mango, jack, grapes etc. cultivated in 1850 ha. Grapes were cultivated in 380 ha during 1985 have come down to 55 ha in 2004.

See Also

• Northern Province, Sri Lanka
• Government of the Northern Province

External links

• Jaffna District
• A Mission in Jaffna & the Memories of war-torn Jaffna