Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation K.D. Lalkantha says that the sole intention is to ensure food security for the citizens of the country, create less dependence on imports, elevate the living standards of the farming community, and achieve environmentally friendly agricultural development.
The Agricultural Sector Excellence Awards Ceremony, organized by the Sri Lanka Council for Agricultural Research Policy to recognize and encourage researchers who have performed a special role in the progress and advancement of the agricultural research sector, was held yesterday (23rd) at the Lotus Auditorium of the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall under the patronage of Hon. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation K.D. Lalkantha also participated in this ceremony.
The Minister expressed his views at this event.
According to statistics and data for the year 2023, the contribution shown by the agricultural sector to the Gross National Production was approximately 7% to 8%, and for the year 2024, agricultural product exports stood at 21.7% of total exports. Additionally, 26.4% of the labor force was engaged in agricultural sector employment. In this backdrop, the impact caused by climate change, high prices of agricultural inputs including seeds and agrochemicals, shortage of agricultural labor and thereby the increase in cost of agricultural production, having to depend on imports for essential food, and consumers having to bear a large cost for it are some of the main problems we face in the agricultural sector. In such a situation, identifying strategies for modernizing the agricultural sector, creating young agri-entrepreneurs, adding value to agricultural products, and contributing through scientific research to develop export-based agricultural products is a huge responsibility entrusted to agricultural researchers. Furthermore, I earnestly request all of you to work to make these findings a reality on the ground by adequately communicating these research findings to policy makers and all relevant stakeholders.
I take this opportunity to express my gratitude for the enormous role played by the Sri Lanka Council for Agricultural Research Policy regarding agricultural research in this country. This national ceremony held to recognize the excellence of agricultural researchers, which is conducted once every two years to encourage agricultural researchers, is another duty performed by the Sri Lanka Council for Agricultural Research Policy. At today’s awards ceremony, Agricultural Research Excellence Awards for the years 2023 and 2025 will be presented.
At present, for all stakeholders in the agricultural sector, our sole intention is to achieve better outcomes, namely ensuring food security for the citizens of the country, creating less dependence on imports, elevating the living standards of the farming community, and achieving environmentally friendly agricultural development. We are continuously committed to achieving these great objectives. I simply hope that through this awards ceremony, there will be invaluable encouragement to conduct agricultural research that will contribute to elevating our agricultural sector to a further higher level, and thereby making our government’s national policy framework of ‘A Thriving Nation – A Beautiful Life’ a reality.
Researchers themselves should find answers to the problems we have. One is for you to do something for us to prevent damage caused by wild animals. The research side has a big role to play in that. All our institutions are committed, but in the end we cannot go without finding an answer to the fact that 30% to 35% of damage occurs due to wild animals. This is the responsibility of researchers. We have various suggestions. Sound waves, sterilization processes, but if you take our farming community, they are facing this problem seriously. The problem is also very complex. We still don’t have a subject called wildlife management. There is no institution for it either.
Next, there is still no good answer that can be practically implemented on the ground for damage occurring during transportation. A solution is needed for that problem too. Similarly, when it comes to food intake, we don’t know about the quantity we need to eat and drink. We know the right quantity and right time to give to a crop. We don’t know what needs to be put into our own bodies. You can create some method to know that. That would be quite helpful to all of us. There is a serious problem regarding our food culture.
