The global food crisis has upstaged global warming to take centre stage as the most discussed topic. According to media reports, the Head of the Food and Agriculture Organisation, Jacques Diouf, has warned international leaders of the impending catastrophe.

Staples such as rice and corn, the prices of which have risen dramatically, have been the focal point of discussion at different fora all over the world. Civil unrest linked to inflationary prices of food has begun to raise its head in many countries which included a few in Asia, like the Philippines and Indonesia. Those countries which had produced more than their own requirements of rice and corn have politely turned down requests by the poorer countries to replenish their dwindling stocks. This has placed the latter in a predicament from which it is hard to extricate themselves.

We in Sri Lanka are feeling the pinch of astronomical price hikes of almost all commodities, mainly rice and flour. Farmers are apparently evincing a lackadaisical attitude to paddy cultivation because of the low returns they finally receive. It is time the powers that be, took urgent and drastic measures to galvanize the farming community into launching a Green Revolution. The writer believes that it is incumbent upon the media to sound the alarm to arouse the nation from its apparent somnolence. Let the people start from home gardens. Our Ministry of Agriculture has obviously a gargantuan task before it. Large scale farming of rice, manioc, sweet potatoes, gram, green gram etc must be started immediately.