1 week Ago By Lauren Dos Santos
Thayalini Indrakularasa, GPJ Sri Lanka Pilenthiran Mariyaseelan’s cowshed stands empty. He sold his 50 cows due to a lack of grazing land. VAVUNIYA, SRI LANKA — A shed once filled with the lowing of cows has fallen silent.
The floor is cracked from the sun and disuse. The animals are gone — the casualties of a feed crisis that has pitted ranchers against paddy farmers in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province. Pilenthiran Mariyaseelan sold his 50 cows in December and shuttered his 30-year-old business.
“These cows are the reason why I am where I am today,” Pilenthiran says. “That helped me to educate both my son and daughter.” Ranchers in Vavuniya district, like Pilenthiran, who once ran profitable businesses grazing local breeds in abandoned fields and selling them for meat, are disposing of their herds at steep discounts.
They cannot afford to feed their animals as grazing lands fill with paddy. Farmers in Vavuniya district planted 25% more land during the 2023 planting season compared to the previous year, according to the Department of Census and Statistics. Cowherders say they have to walk the animals many extra kilometers daily to find grassy patches, and the animals rush to wherever they see green — usually crop fields — causing trouble for their owners.
Local ranchers say they have repeatedly asked the Vavuniya District Coordinating Committee, which oversees development, to set aside common grazing lands, but no action has been taken. “If the situation co.
