Financial experts vital for sustainable agriculture - Dr. Harsha De Silva

by Lalin FERNANDOPULLE

Agricultural transactions should be undertaken by financial experts creating a stable and vibrant market for farmers, said LIRNEasia Consultant Lead Economist Dr. Harsha De Silva. He was addressing a seminar on more money for agriculture-value chain studies for agri business organised by the Vegetable Producers, Processors and Exporters Association in collaboration with LIRNEasia on Thursday.

He said there should be a new breed of financial experts, brokers and dealers who could create this platform which is essential to find sustainable solutions to agricultural problems.

“Farmers are poor due to the absence of a proper trading mechanism that should be undertaken by experts in the financial sector. Farmer insurance schemes are vital to mitigate risks”, Dr. De Silva said.

Insurance companies are reluctant to provide insurance to farmers due to the high risk factor in the agriculture sector. Agriculture is vulnerable to natural disasters.

Dr. De Silva said farmers should concentrate on agricultural inputs such as seeds and fertiliser to enhance the quality of products vital to boost profits.

Farmers seek information on inputs rather than improve products and processes, a study conducted by LIRNEasia revealed. It further stated that prices are more important to non growers than farmers.

“Traceability in agriculture should not only help trace the origin of a product but also help enhance its quality. Information should be passed to the farmer to help improve the quality of his produce”, Dr. De Silva said.

Traceability in agriculture helps trace the origin of a product, when, where and by whom was it produced, the quality of seed and fertiliser. An objective of traceability is to help farmers enhance profits by producing quality products for the market.

LIRNEasia Senior Research Manager Sriganesh Lokanathan said that ICT plays a vital role in the agriculture sector by providing price alerts and other market information to farmers and buyers.

“The price of a kilo of tomatoes at the Dambulla market fluctuates constantly. Price alerts on Tradenet and the use of ICT will help create a stable market and reduce waste of products”, he said.

A survey conducted by LIRNEasia revealed that around 75 percent of Sri Lankan households other than in the North and the East use telephones which is the best communication method in the agriculture sector.

LIRNEasia Research Manager, Nilusha Kapugama said that scarcity of land and cost of fertiliser have lead to the high cost of pineapple production in the country.

“Variation in the method of cultivation may have implications in productivity. Exceeding the number of plants that could be planted on an acre will affect productivity”, she said.

According to experts though Sri Lankan pineapples are among the best in the world, there is no proper focus on developing the crop which has a demand in the international market. Kapugama said that there should be a proper mechanism to obtain information on pineapple sucker providers based on their reputation.

She said that it is vital to organise farmers to promote good practices in pineapple cultivation and added that a market should be created for organic cultivation of pineapple.