An overview of heavy metal availability due to agrochemical uses in paddy cultivation in Sammanthurai Malkampiddy area

Abstract

The growth of the agricultural sector is seen as essential in developing countries [2]. De Silva et al, (2007) classifies Sri Lanka as an agricultural country because the majority of the rural people are still engaged in agriculture for their main livelihood and the principle agricultural produce is paddy. Agrochemicals are key inputs in agriculture for crop protection and better yield, even though they are usually toxic and can pose significant environmental risks as well as costly. Padmajani et al., (2014), reported that Sri Lankan farmers use stronger concentrations of pesticides with increased frequency of applications. According to Perera et al., (2016), several agricultural chemicals have been reported to contain toxic trace (heavy metals, mainly Cd and As) elements in Sri Lanka. Further, all paddy farmers utilize different types of agrochemicals to expect high yields. Sammanthurai is one of the leading areas in paddy farming in the Ampara district [5]. At this background, our study focused on analyzing certain heavy metals in the canal water, which runs through the paddy fields at Malkampiddy, where intense paddy cultivation is taking place for two seasons per year.