Local farmers adopting latest technology

A farmer harvesting paddy using the latest machinery. Picture by Saliya Rupasinghe

Compared to other countries in the SAARC region there is a high adaptation of advanced technologies in the local agriculture sector.

Operations Manager of CIC Seeds, Chandana Jayaratne told Daily News Business, that local farmers are rapidly adopting latest technologies in the agriculture sector compared to other countries in the region.

“They are always keen on latest technologies available to them and want updates on advanced technologies,” he said.

“Every day we find large numbers of farmers visiting us to learn new technologies in the agriculture sector. Farmers in the dry zone specially in the Ampara, Polonnaruwa, Anuradhapura and Mahaveli areas are quick to adopt the latest technologies,” he said.

Today, labour charges in the agriculture sector has increased and annually the labour force in the industry declines by 10 per cent. The new generation in the agriculture sector moves towards latest machinery and today farms need to be automated to make profits.

Not only individual farmers but also private sector companies in the agriculture sector have now switched to fully automated systems investing heavily due to lack of labour and high labour charges, he said.

Now there is a huge demand for local companies who import the latest agricultural machinery to Sri Lanka. Many farmers invest on machinery, he said.

Farmers now focus on using inputs, which have balanced amounts of organic and inorganic ingredients for better harvests. CIC Seeds is the largest seed paddy producer in Sri Lanka. It produces 20 per cent of the country’s seed paddy requirement. The company is equipped with most sophisticated seed-processing machines.

“Demand for compost has increased and many people in Colombo use compost for their home gardening. We manufacture 1,500 metric tonnes of compost per year and expect to increase the production to cater for the demand,” he said.