Managing harvest is next challenge :

Agriculture, a lucrative business

by Gamini WARUSHAMANA

Agriculture has become a profitable business today and new opportunities are emerging in the sector, said Dean, Dr. K. Samarasinghe and Professor Buddhi Marambe of the Department of Crop Science Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya.

Prof. Buddhi Marambe	Dr. K. Samarasinghe

Following are the excerpts from an interview with them on a wide range of issues related to the agriculture sector. Dr. Samarasinghe is a specialist in animal nutrition and Professor Marambe is a weed scientist.

Almost all developed countries in the world achieved their success giving prominence to the agriculture sector and even today agriculture is an important contributor to their national economies.

Agriculture helps the economy in many ways; import substitution, food security, employment generation and foreign exchange generation. Sri Lanka has a long established agro culture and its contribution to the national economy cannot be measured only by rupees and cents.

Although the percentage contribution of the agriculture sector to the GDP has been declining over time with the transformation of the economy, its true contribution to the economy is massive.

The Importance of the agriculture sector has been recognised by all governments. Ancient kings and warriors thought that food security is national security. Since independence all governments supported the development of the agriculture sector.

However, there was an imbalance and only the crop sector got the main focus while the livestock sector was neglected. This is a major mistake. Both sectors should go together as they are inter dependent.

Poultry industry

New agro industries have been emerging and developing rapidly. For instance the poultry industry in the country has now reached a level that we will be able to export poultry products. Especially this industry rapidly grew in 2008-2009. Production in this sector has reached more than local demand and the standard of the poultry products are very high and meet the European standard.

The most important factor is that this industry grew without direct government support. The private sector is playing the main role in this success story. Producers know that local demand is limited. However, this does not mean that local consumption is sufficient for nutrition.

Although our poultry industry grew rapidly after the 1980s it was solely dependant on imported poultry feed, mainly maize. There were no plans to increase local maize production or develop the poultry feed industry simultaneously.

We imported 80 percent our maize requirement to poultry feed. During 2006 with the food crisis and oil crisis the price of maize increased significantly and our poultry industry suffered.

Dairy production can be increased through better feeding

Then we realised the importance of cultivating maize and the government put a lot of effort to increase maize production. Today the situation is reversed. We now import 20 percent and produce 80 percent of maize required by our poultry industry. This is also an important recent achievement in agriculture.

Livestock sector

The government has given prominence to dairy production but achievements are insignificant. We had a minister for livestock development for over three decades but still the main issues obstructing the development of this sector remain unchanged. Lack of high quality animals, lack of knowledge in feeding management are main issues that still hinder livestock development.

We can increase dairy production manyfold only by introducing a better feeding process and improving nutrition of the animals.

Contradictory policies

This is a proven fact and after the privatisation of Ambewela Farm, the average milk production from a cow increased from 12-18 litres to 30 litres. The yield was doubled only by improving nutrition of the animals.

Some government policies are contradictory and hindering the growth of the agriculture sector. For instance the government is promoting organic fertiliser usage while providing a huge subsidy for chemical fertiliser.

The fertiliser subsidy should be well focused. Again, the banning of killing animals contradicts with the government's livestock development policies. This affects meat production as well as animal welfare.

The cruelty of animal slaughter, low quality meat, unproductive animals becoming a burden to the farmer are results of contradictory policies.

The achievements in rice production is also impressive. Productivity in rice production in Sri Lanka has increased and academia, researchers and the farmers in the country contributed to this achievement. We have developed high yield rice varieties.

The most recent achievement is BG 260 or Kiri Samba a rice variety that was developed at the Bathalegoda Rice Research Institute.

The average yield of BG 260 is around 4.3 Mt/ he. BG 404 H is another remarkable achievement and it is the first hybrid rice variety developed in Sri Lanka. Our scientists worked hard since the 1990s to develop this hybrid rice.

Overall, the government's agricultural sector development programs have achieved success and we could face the food crisis in 2008-2009 due to this reason. The Api Wawamu - Rata Nagamu campaign came at the right time.

The Agriculture sector is growing with the new generations also attracted to it. The popular view then younger generation is reluctant to engage in agriculture is a myth as there are young agro entrepreneurs who engage in profitable agro businesses.

They may be different to the traditional farmers we have in mind. Large agro companies have also changed perceptions to make the sector a lucrative business that attracts young people.

With the liberation of the North and the East, the contribution of the agriculture sector is increasing. We expect paddy production to double and our next challenge will be to manage the harvest.

Land reforms

Land reforms proposed by the World Bank for land consolidation is a major political issue. Policies like that are not essential and urgent, because there are new developments in agriculture.

There is land consolidation to some extent and mechanisation and introduction of technology is now taking place. New equipment such as combined harvester that suits medium scale and small scale farmlands have increased the productivity in paddy farming. Solutions cannot be imposed on people and the government should only facilitate them.

Extension service

Mechanisation and introduction of technology is now taking place.

Agriculture extension services mainly in crop sectors have collapsed. The system collapsed in the 1990s and this is the most important area that policymakers should focus their attention on.

There are over 9,000 agriculture, research and development assistants attached to field offices but they are totally unproductive and engage in other activities.

The recruits did not have even basic qualifications for the job. Though decades have passed they have not been trained for the job. This is a huge workforce and if we build their capacity they will contribute to improve the extension service.

We have to study the success of agriculture in other countries and develop our own model. In Japan, the government supports agriculture and especially protects rice farmers.

In Germany local milk production is protected by the government. Most of the developed countries follow protectionist policies to develop their agriculture. However, the government should not do the business, but only be a facilitator.