Adapting & transforming for stability – By Prof. Samitha Hettige

The ‘Atharva-vedha’ describes rice as ‘immortal sons of heaven’ & Indian literature sometimes refers to god of rice as ‘Anna-devatha’. The Chinese civilization which has many rice related achievements dating back approx. 11,000 years recently recorded another. In 2020 China exposed rice seeds to the lunar atmosphere & in 2022 Chinese scientists sent rice seeds to space for a breeding experiment aboard China’s space station ‘Tiangong’ (Heavenly Palace). After 6 months of breeding they were returned to earth & planted resulting in a heavy autumn grain harvest in 2024 (Ref. Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences). This demonstrates that seeds grown in space can still reproduce on earth. It should be noted by those who wanted to import rice from the moon long before the Chinese planned & executed above.

Although Sri Lankan rice reality isn’t relaxing (with obstacles like weather & wildlife etc.) further improving soil conditions may help increase the harvest. Sri Lankans may learn from China on developing a modern soil profile database to utilize agriculture for economic stability. China recently unveiled a high precision, digital soil database consisting 25 volumes & 27.51 million words with data collected from approx. 63,000 soil profiles across the country (Ref. Zhejiang Science & Technology Publishing House).

The need to transform.

The team Sri Lankans recently opted for governance is believed to be ground realistic & is expected to be the wings to take the economy off the ground. The Chinese who took similar decisions 75 years ago unveiled its first aircraft wing type spectrum in Xi’an (Shaanxi Province) recently. This is China’s first profile of high performance aircraft wings with an approx. 1000 wing types. Wings are critical to determine the aerodynamic efficiency & flight stability of an aircraft (Ref. Chinese Academy of Engineering).

President AKD will take wings to India by mid December. It is important as Indian support would be essential for socio economic stability. The Chinese economy which is second largest is also available for partnerships. Sri Lanka is a historic partner of India & China & the Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) is a never before opportunity to link Indian economy more with the BRI via Sri Lanka. Therefore, President AKD may lead the transformation process & start a tradition of visiting China as the second state visit by any new Sri Lankan leader. As he was in China last Christmas, he may visit in 2025 which according to the Chinese calendar is the year of the Snake. Representing wisdom, elegance & mystery, the snake is seen as a symbol of transformation & adaptability in China.

(Views expressed are personal).

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