AGRICULTURE SECTOR
THE SEEDS OF PROSPERITY
Sarath de Silva wants to seize the opportunity to grow the agri sector
Compiled by Avanti Samarasekera
Q: Having continued to face a local economic crisis and weathering global headwinds in recent years, where does Sri Lanka’s agriculture sector stand at present?
A: The economic crisis we are experiencing is the cumulative result of a long period of low productivity across all business sectors and industries in our country.
This is especially so in agriculture and food production where our dependency on imports of agro-based products has increased.
Moreover, current global scenarios such as food shortages, geopolitical disputes and the COVID-19 pandemic have added to our import costs, and aggravated negative growth. Our export earnings too have dropped due to insufficient agro-based products being available for export.
Q: What challenges does the sector face at present? And what role can R&D play to ensure the success of local agriculture?
A: Sri Lanka has always been an agricultural country. The Arabs visited, and Portuguese and Dutch invaded our country in search of spices, local agro-produce and other natural resources. The British conquered our island due to its strategic geographic location.
We are blessed with a highly suitable tropical climate, and our cultivated lands were once filled with coffee, tea, rubber and other commercial crops that added value to Sri Lanka’s agro-produce wherever possible.
To put this in perspective, our yield for 0.4 hectares of tea, which was in the region of 3,000-4,000 kilogrammes between 1950 and 1960, has dropped to 600-700 kilogrammes today.
Knowledge sharing by international research and development organisations can help us revitalise our lands by adopting cultivation mechanisms such as selectively breeding high-yield crops, correct and limited use of fertiliser with prior verification of soil conditions, and paying the utmost attention to plant health to increase yields.
R&D can also help to improve productivity and related revenue streams.
However, this should be pursued as a joint venture between the public and private sectors to benefit the country as a whole. Vietnam, Bangladesh and Kenya are prime examples of recent growth in agro-production and export-based value added agricultural industries.
Q: What are the challenges faced by farmers in recent times – and what do you see as potential growth areas going forward?
A: It goes without saying that sudden and abrupt policy changes such as banning chemical fertiliser without proven organic substitutes crippled farmers as they had been dependent on chemical fertiliser for the past 40 years or so.
This decision led to a drop in the health of farms, plantations and plant immunity as chemical treatments weren’t available when they faced severe hardships subsequently. This has also negatively impacted the morale and enthusiasm of farmers, and caused many of them to give up their traditional cultivations.
I firmly believe that the local agriculture sector can be revived, revitalised and reactivated in a matter of two or three seasons – i.e. as soon as farmers regain confidence in the sector and their capabilities. To do this, we have to communicate the importance of the farmers’ role in rebuilding the local economy.
Our farmers should be motivated to cultivate staple foods such as pulses, grains, onions, potatoes and chillies in large quantities, and our banks must provide them with the seed capital to do so.
It’s time that our banks realise that the farmers of this country should be their chief customers; after all, their capabilities and capacities are better collateral than those offered by larger corporations.
Q: How important is it for Sri Lanka to become self-sufficient in food? Are we moving towards this goal?
A: For the past 50 years or more, the agriculture sector has been trying to convince decision makers that Sri Lanka should produce more food locally and become self-sufficient while producing excess food that can earn foreign exchange.
This should be the game plan for a tropical country such as ours with ideal climatic conditions and rainfall, and more than 30 percent of the population directly involved in agriculture.
However, constant changes in authority and decision making have preempted this golden opportunity. Therefore, I urge the authorities to mark 2023 and beyond as prime years ahead on the path to self-sufficiency in food.
Q: And what recommendations would you make to overcome the prevailing macroeconomic challenges in Sri Lanka and revive our economy?
A: It is time for all of us to unite and understand the gravity of the situation we’re in as a nation. Each individual needs to play his or her role with greater commitment and honesty, and work selflessly for the betterment of the country.
Q: Finally, what advice would you offer the next generation of business leaders in the agriculture sector?
A: We have all realised the potential of this country – and the important role agriculture plays in all our lives and the nation’s prosperity.
Future generations must commit themselves to making our agro-based country self-sufficient by restoring and protecting this important segment of the national economy.
