Enriching the country’s agriculture Ishara MUDUGAMUWA President Rajapaksa encourages the countrymen for a more agri-based culture Agriculture is the most dominant sector of the country’s economy. Around 75 percent of the population live in rural areas and depend on it for their income and livelihood. Under the leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa the present government has succeeded in bringing the agriculture sector of the country to a higher standard through various types of development programmes. Agriculture has always been deeply related with the social, cultural and economic aspects of Sri Lankan history. New agricultural programs such as Api Wawamu Rata Nagamu and Divi Neguma introduced under the Mahinda Chintana have opened a new successful chapter of the agriculture field. Most problems that local farmers had to face were solved by the president. Most farmers suffered from lack of water and insufficient land to for cultivation of crop. They also had to face problems as they couldn’t sell their products at a good price. Harvesting losses, high prices of fertilizer and many other problems were solved by the president. The government has increased the selling price of one kilo of paddy from Rs 12 to Rs 30. Seed paddy is also provided at a reasonable price along with fertilizer subsidy for farmers by spending 50,000 million rupees per a year. Soft loan facilities are also given for farmers by the government. Higher productivity is the use of high quality seed and planting material. However provision of large quantity of seed and planting material instantly required for an accelerated food production drive would be practically difficult. Therefore priority will be given to the provision of seed packs required for home gardening and take action for an accelerated purchasing programme for seeds of Paddy and other field crops from areas where they have been grown already. Apart from paddy cultivation government gave priority for other crops also. As the government invest large amount of money to nhance the potato, onion, chilly, fruit, maize and vegetable production. With these facilities the government has become self sufficient in rice. The government has already taken measures to export surplus rice to a certain extent with the support of the private sector. According to the statistics of the Hector Kobbakaduwa Agrarian Services and Research Centre, Sri Lanka is already reaching the self sufficient level of maize production and within two years it will reach 100 percent self sufficiency. Annual local requirement of maize is 228,000 MT and presently 145,000 MTs produced in the country, said research officers. The government encouraged farmers to grow maize especially in Anuradhapura, Monaragala, Ampara and Badulla districts through Api Wavamu Rata Nagamu program. There is an important place for maize in 23 main cops named by the government. According to the statistics of the Agriculture Department per capita rice consumption in Sri Lanka has increased now. In 2007 per capita rice consumption was 100 kilograms whereas in 2008 it was 108 kilograms. In 2010, it has risen to 114 kilograms due to wheat flour consumption reduction. Agriculture Minister Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena Presently Sri Lanka has an excess of vegetables and fruits. The government’s food production programmes such as Api Wavamu Rata Nagamu, Divi Neguma were the main factors behind this growth. According to the statistics of the Export Development Board the export quantity of fruits and vegetables in 2006 was 23Mts and it was 57.1 Mts in 2010. This shows a 135 percent increase. Rice production in the country increased rapidly during the last few years. In 2008 Sri Lanka produced 3.8 million metric tons of paddy and in 2010 it rose to 4.2 million metric tons. Wheat flour imports have also decreased this year. The government has also encouraged people to produce more rice based food products and increase consumption. The government has also taken measures to double the export value and volume within the next two years with the support of the private sector companies. Export values of fresh and processed fruits and vegetables was Rs. 685 million in 2010 which was Rs. 6.7 million in 1977. The government has to spend more than 95 percent of chemical fertilizer used in the country. The government spent Rs. 50,000 to import chemical fertilizer in 2009. As a result of using chemical fertilizer it has damaged soil fertility, productivity of cultivations and mineral water resources. Research shows that with the production and promotion of organic fertilizer government could reduce the amount of imported fertilizer. Farmers can get maximum use of their cultivations without doing any harm to the environment. Though the government has given fertilizer subsidy, organic fertilizer production and promotion programmes have also started with the objective of increasing crop productivity, improve soil fertility and reduce chemical fertilizer imports. Sri Lankan farmers make compost in their home gardens. Presently Sri Lanka has an excess of vegetables and fruits. The government’s food production programmes such as Api Wavamu Rata Nagamu, Divi Neguma were the main factors behind this growth. According to the statistics of the Export Development Board the export quantity of fruits and vegetables in 2006 was 23Mts and it was 57.1 Mts in 2010. This shows a 135 percent increase. The Export value in 2006 was US $ 20 million and in 2010 it was US $ 43 million. It shows a 115 percent increase. Api Wawamu Rata Nagamu (Let’s Cultivate and Uplift the Nation) programme which was introduced in 2005 under the Mahinda Chinthana policy has given a big contribution to the present success of the agriculture sector. It created a new trend to cultivate among people by encouraging them to grow fruits and vegetables in their home gardens. It has changed the thinking of farmers and even house holders to contribute their share to the national economy. So far the government has spent above 1.6 billion for this program. Main objective of this program is increase the local food production and reduce the amount of imported foods. Under Api wavamu Ratanagamu Program large number of infertile fields were re-cultivated. An island-wide accelerated program was launched for local food production namely, ‘Deshiya Ahara Nishpadana Diri Genvime Jathika Meheyuma’ (National Campaign to Motivate Domestic Food Production) under ‘ Api Wawamu-Rata Nagamu ‘ through short and long term strategies. Divi Neguma programme is also encouraging people to grow more fruits and vegetables in their home gardens. Because of these massive cultivation programs most of people try to get maximum use of their home gardens. The Ministry provides high quality seeds, technical guidance and fertilizer. This can be considered as a tool to address the escalating cost of living, malnutrition and food insecurity. Under this program, cultivation of vegetables, fruits, yams and herbal plants will be encouraged to meet daily needs of people. This constitutes cultivating food according to the family need, promoting production of chemical-free food through environmental-friendly cultivation methods, promotion of family nutrition, health and family income. Attention will also be paid to the capacity of the family to invest, provide labour and their dedication shown in developing the home garden. Furthermore, landowners are encouraged to use organic fertilizer as far as possible. Home gardening paves the way to minimize the losses during transport of goods between the producer and the consumer. The government plans to meet the 90 to 95 percent of local seed demand before 2015. Sri Lanka is self-sufficient with seed paddy. The president always provides funds to rehabilitate seed farms. “The Agriculture Ministry has also taken measures to get the support of private sector companies to produce potato, upcountry vegetable and additional crop seeds by using new technologies such as tissue culture. The ministry is ready to provide all facilities such as land and technical assistance that is need to produce high quality seeds. The ministry plans to produce the entire amount of big onion seeds before 2013,” said Agriculture Minister Mahinda yapa Abeywardane. He also said that the climate change is a big challenge that the government had to face in the journey of the agriculture development. The year is divided into two cultivation seasons known as Yala and Maha coinciding with the monsoons. Also the country is divided into three zones with respect to the rain fall. So farmers used to do their cultivations considering these seasons and zones. As we have recent experience of the sudden changes of weather we cannot expect that kind of weather conditions. The ministry will introduce polythene houses with improved technology for farmers. The ministry also introduced solar powered drip irrigation system specially for Northern Province farmers. Presently there is a big demand for it. Because of this system farmers get big profit of more than Rs 50,000. Under the guidance of the President Mahinda Rajapaksa Northern and Eastern Province farmers now live happily. Agriculture is not a new thing for farmers in Northern and Eastern provinces. They only wanted to have a support from the government. Agriculture Ministry provides machinery, equipment, seeds and technical assistance for them. New economic centres were established in Killinochchi and Kalpitiya toencourage farmers to ncourage farmers, he said. The government has also taken measure to reduce post harvest loses. Plastic crates have introduced for farmers, collectors, transporters, wholesale traders and retailers at subsidized price with the objective of preventing the serious financial losses during post operations from farmer to consumer. Technologies have also been introduced to get maximum use of seasonal crops. Value addition and dehydration are main ways of preserving fruits and vegetables.