Sri Lanka’s roads often serve a dual purpose not just as transport routes but also as makeshift drying yards for paddy during harvest seasons. This is a common sight, particularly in rural areas, where golden grains are spread across the asphalt to dry under the sun. While this traditional practice helps farmers cope with the lack of proper drying facilities, it has led to an increase in road accidents, posing risks to motorists and pedestrians. Despite existing laws that prohibit obstructing roads, enforcement remains weak, raising concerns about road safety and legal accountability.
Dangerous tradition
For generations, Sri Lankan farmers have dried their paddy on roadsides due to a lack of designated drying facilities. The asphalt retains heat, speeding up the drying process, making roads a convenient alternative to threshing floors or drying yards. However, this convenience comes with risks.
Police
Spokesman SSP Buddhika
Manatunga
Motorists, particularly motorcyclists, struggle to navigate these paddy-covered roads, often leading to skidding and accidents. The presence of drying frames, sacks, and farmers tending to their grains further complicates road safety. According to reports several accidents have occurred due to this practice, some even resulting in fatalities.
According to Sri Lanka’s road safety laws, the obstruction of public roads is strictly prohibited. The Motor Traffic Act (Chapter 203) states that roads should be kept clear for the safe movement of vehicles and pedestrians. Under this law, unauthorised use of public roads for non-transportation purposes including drying crops is an offence punishable by fines or legal action.
The Road Development Authority (RDA) Act grants the authorities the power to remove any encroachments on national highways, including the use of roads for drying paddy. Municipal and Provincial Council regulations also reinforce the need to keep roads free from activities that pose hazards to the public.
Despite these legal provisions, enforcement remains inconsistent. The Local authorities often ignore violations due to political influence, lack of awareness, or reluctance to confront farmers who depend on this practice for their livelihood. As a result, road safety concerns continue to grow, especially during peak harvesting seasons.
This issue is particularly prevalent in major rice-growing districts, including Polonnaruwa, Jaffna, Anuradhapura, Ampara, and Kurunegala. During the Yala and Maha harvesting seasons, main and secondary roads in these regions often turn into makeshift drying grounds, leading to an increase in road-related incidents. Police reports show that motorcyclists and small vehicle drivers are most vulnerable, as loose paddy grains reduce road grip, making it difficult to control vehicles.
Law enforcement challenges
Former
PMB Chairman
Dr. Jatal
Mannapperuma
According to Police Spokesperson SSP Buddhika Manatunga, drying paddy on the road is prohibited by law. While the practice may seem harmless, it poses serious risks. Although accidents explicitly caused by this issue are not officially categorised, there have been instances where roadside paddy drying contributed to crashes. It causes traffic congestion, creating unnecessary delays and hazards for drivers.
The Sri Lanka Police has the authority to take legal action against those who dry paddy on roads, and in some cases, legal measures have already been enforced. He said that however, enforcing the law is difficult, as police often face public criticism for regulating this long standing practice.
In many parts of the world, farmers use advanced technologies to ensure efficient and high-quality paddy drying while avoiding road safety hazards. Mechanical dryers such as batch dryers, continuous-flow dryers, and re-circulating dryers are widely used in countries such as Japan, the USA, and China. These machines use heated air to remove moisture quickly and evenly. Solar drying systems, including solar-assisted greenhouses, help capture and retain heat, making them a cost-effective solution in sunny climates. More advanced methods like infrared drying and microwave-assisted drying reduce moisture content rapidly without damaging rice grains.
Fluidised bed dryers, which suspend grains in heated air, ensure even drying while preventing overheating. Despite these innovations, many Sri Lankan farmers lack the financial resources to adopt such modern drying technologies, forcing them to rely on traditional methods, including roadside drying.
President of the Rajanganaya Farmers’ Association,
Terence Gamini,
According to former Paddy Marketing Board Chairman Dr. Jatal Mannapperuma, the drying of paddy after harvesting is a major challenge for local farmers. With modern harvesting methods relying on machines, paddy is often collected before it is fully dried. The moisture content of machine-harvested paddy typically ranges between 18 percent and 22 percent, while proper storage requires drying it to 14 percent. However, due to a lack of drying facilities, many farmers struggle to meet this requirement.
He said the Paddy Marketing Board has constructed concrete drying yards in some warehouses to help address this issue. While these facilities provide farmers with proper drying spaces, their construction requires significant investment, and only a limited number are currently operational. As a result, most farmers still rely on traditional drying methods or use whatever limited equipment is available.
He said that a better solution would be the use of convection paddy dryers, which can speed up the drying process while ensuring high-quality rice production. “These dryers are efficient, easy to operate, and cost-effective. However, despite having nearly 300 Paddy Marketing Board facilities, only a few drying yards and convection dryers exist. Due to this shortage, most farmers have no choice but to dry paddy on roadsides, exposing it to dust, dirt, and other contaminants,” he added.
A farmer’s perspective
According to the President of the Rajanganaya Farmers’ Association, Terence Gamini, the main reason paddy is dried on roads is the lack of threshing areas. In the past, farmers had common threshing grounds, and paddy was cut only when dry. With the introduction of mechanised harvesting, paddy is now cut whenever machines are available even at night resulting in wet paddy.
Another significant issue is that most farmers cannot sell their paddy to the Government because it is not properly dried. For many, drying paddy on the roadside remains the only option. With no immediate alternatives in place, he said farmers continue this practice, balancing their need to protect their harvest with the growing risks and criticisms they face. Until a proper solution is introduced, this conflict between tradition, necessity, and road safety will likely persist.
Pix By Rukmal Gamage
