The Commercial Bank of Ceylon has run an awareness campaign to prepare farmers for the 2026 El Niño pattern, reaching more than 1,100 farmers across 15 locations with the support of 12 branches, Hiru News reported.
The programme was implemented in September through the bank’s Development Credit Department. Commercial Bank said the aim was to move the sector from reactive loss management to early climate preparedness, linking university research to farm-level lending decisions.
Locations named include Vattapalai, Muththajankaddu, Palampas, Oddusuddan, Siyambalanduwa, Lindula, Neluwa, Kalawana, Pannala, Madampe, Mannar, Vavuniya and Kumalamunai — 13 of the 15 sites.
Two phases, two universities
The first phase opened in Kilinochchi, where around 100 participants attended a session organised with the University of Jaffna at the District Secretariat’s Skill Development Hall. Speakers included Prof. Nagamuthu Piratheeparajah, Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Jaffna; Dr. Suvanthini Terensan, Head of the Department of Agricultural Biology; and Maheswaran Rajeethan, Managing Director of the Inthira Group.
The second phase, at the Faculty of Agriculture of Rajarata University, introduced Internet of Things-based smart weather monitoring. Its 100 participants were 50 young farmers, 30 students and school leavers studying agriculture and biosystems technology, and 20 Agriculture Instructors.
Workshops covered adjusting planting schedules, selecting drought-tolerant crops, improving irrigation, conserving soil moisture and using real-time weather data.
The rationale
The campaign follows a Department of Meteorology warning that El Niño conditions were likely to emerge between June and August 2026, with effects expected to continue through November and beyond. The Food and Agriculture Organization treats El Niño as a risk multiplier for rural livelihoods, food production and water supplies.
Commercial Bank said climate shocks cut yields, raise production costs and weaken borrowers’ ability to meet financial commitments — framing the programme as credit risk management as much as outreach, and pairing it with lending, leasing and green financing products.
A separate, earlier programme
Commercial Bank ran a different farmer initiative with the University of Jaffna in Kilinochchi in July 2025, which trained about 100 farmers in smart-farming equipment such as compost choppers and drought-resistant varieties. That earlier campaign was delivered with the Faculty of Agriculture and was not framed around El Niño; the 2026 programme is larger, met at the District Secretariat with the Faculty of Arts, and adds the Rajarata IoT component.
Not reported
The report gives no cost for the programme, no value for the associated lending, leasing or green financing, and no target for how many farmers the bank intends to reach. It does not name the remaining two locations, say how the 15 sites were selected, or indicate whether the campaign continues beyond September.
It carries no comment from a participating farmer, no assessment of what the 2026 El Niño has actually done to yields so far, and no statement from the Department of Agriculture or the Ministry responsible for agriculture.
This report rests on a single verified source. The bank’s own release was also carried by non-verified business outlets; no other verified newsroom had filed on it at the time of writing.
