Sri agro practices command higher market price

Changing the present agricultural practices in the country for the better is difficult, since our agro researchers and bureaucrats serve multinational agro chemical companies, said Minister of Nation Building, Salinda Dissanayake.

He was addressing a seminar on sustainable livelihood and eco-friendly farming organised by the Sri Network Sri Lanka in collaboration with the Gemidiriya Foundation.

The Minister said that the Sri method of paddy farming has shown very impressive results. Sharing his experience as a farmer who practises the Sri method in paddy farming, he said that it increases the yield by 50% and cuts fertiliser and agrochemical usage by over 50%.

Since chemical fertiliser prices are on the increase due to increasing crude oil prices the fertiliser subsidy is not sustainable.

We have to find alternatives but due to the red tape in agriculture extension services and research institutions it is difficult to change the present paddy farming practices which depend highly on agro chemicals.

Officials work in the interests of multinational companies and not for the farmers or national interests. Therefore, popularising the Sri method has to move from bottom to top, he said.

The seminar was organised to share the scientific evidence of the success of the Sri method. Representatives of NGOs that are promoting the Sri method in the livelihood improvement of poor farmers participated in the seminar.

The keynote address was delivered by Prof. Norman Uphoff, Professor of the Government and International Agriculture, Cornell University, USA under "Sri as an international phenomenon: what has been learned in the Asian region."

Prof. Uphoff said that the Sri method is still being tested. With increasing crude oil prices the situation will change and farmers will be compelled to choose the Sri method. Showing results in various parts in the Asian region, Prof. Uphoff said that the Sri method is suitable for poor farmers to increase their productivity.

The Sri method or System of Rice Intensification (SRI) originated in Madagascar is now practised by farmers in 19 countries. Sri practices lead to healthier, more productive soil and plants by supporting greater root growth and by nurturing the abundance and diversity of soil organisms.