IFPRI organized a two day workshop on “Agricultural Extension Reforms in South Asia – Status, Challenges, and Policy Options” to be organized at Committee Room 3, NASC, Pusa, New Delhi on February 17-18, 2015. IFPRI has been conducting research related to agricultural extension reforms in India and collaborating with researchers in other south Asian countries for the past five years through various projects. For understanding extension reforms in India, a major consultation was held in NAARM in 2009 during which policy makers called for development of evidence for spreading extension reform process in India. Since then several research papers have been produced on various aspects of Indian extension system. While they are presented in various forms including several discussion papers, there is a need to pull all the research result together to present it in form that could be used by the policy makers to further guide them in the reform process. South Asian countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka are going through similar challenges in getting knowledge to farmers. Several experiment shave been conducted to test new approaches to extension by the public, private and NGO sectors. Learning from each country experiences will bring collective understanding and knowledge for the policy makers who are attempting to bring changes in the reform process. The purpose of this workshop is to bring together a groups of researchers, analysts and policy makers to present the issues, constraints and challenges facing agricultural extension reforms that are being implemented in South Asian countries.

2. Padmasiri Wanigasundera
&
Nihal Atapattu
Extension Reforms in Sri Lanka –
Lessons and Policy Options

3. (MAY YOU LIVE LONGER)
'AYUBOWAN'

4. Country Profile / Geography
• Area: 65,610 km2
 People: 21 million
 Religions:
- Buddhist 70%,
- Hindu 13%,
- Islam 10%,
- Christian 7%

5. Economy
 Mainly depends on agricultural products,
garment exports and tourism
 GDP : $59.4 billion (2012 )
per capita : $2,923
composition by sector : -
agriculture : 11.1%
industry : 30.4%
services : 58.5%
 Unemployment rate: 4.0% (2012 )
 Currency: Sri Lankan Rupee (US $ 1 = 130 Rupees)

6. - Black Tea
- Other exports: spices, rubber,
coconut, coffee, cocoa,
Rice:
- 789,000 ha Asweddumized -
32% of the total labor force
- Yield = 4.3 t ha-1
Economy: Agriculture

7. University of Peradeniya

8. • Agricultural extension under increasing pressure
to become - more effective, more responsive to
clients and less costly to governments
• Various attempts to reform for the effective
dissemination of agricultural technology
• The process of reform has remained incomplete
and future direction uncertain
Extension Reforms in Sri Lanka – Lessons and Policy Options
Introduction

9. Agricultural research and extension system for food
agriculture sector:
• Made remarkable successes, achieving rice self-
sufficiency
• Average rice yields increased by 2.5 tons/ha last
20 years
• Supply-driven or top-down
• Client dissatisfaction
• Declining investments in extension
• Lack integrated approach and partnerships
Introduction contd…

10. • Examine developments over the past two decades in the
provision of agricultural extension services in Sri Lanka
• Demonstrate that the agricultural extension system has
moved towards defining a greater role for the private
sector
• Identify elements of an environment conducive for
private participation in extension
• Delineate conditions under which private sector
extension services could compliment to public extension
services.
Study Objectives

11. • Staple food -rice and most other food crops -Department
of Agriculture (DOA)
• Other agricultural sub sectors -several government and
semi-government agencies:
 Department of Animal Production and Health (DAPH)
 Department of Export Agriculture (spices, coffee, cocoa)
 Coconut Cultivation Board
 Tea Small Holdings Development Authority
 Rubber Development Department
 Research and development institutes having their own advisory
services
Evolution of the Public Extension Services

12. • started in 1920
• 1930s - Agricultural Officer (AO) for each province
supported by 37 Agricultural Instructors (AI)
• 1957 - District level – Ag. Extension Officers (DAEOs)
Village-level - Krushi Viapthi Sevaka or KVS )
• 1963 – Extension Division under Deputy Director
(Extension) created
• 1990 - Over 2400 grassroots level extension workers
Development of DOA extension arm

13. Technology
Transfer
1. Increased Cadre and
hierarchical organization
2. Changed role
3. Research-Extension
Linkages
4.Rrigid bi-weekly
visits and training
5. Important crops
The First Reform – Training & Visit System

14. • 1989 – 13th Amendment of SL Constitution, central
governance power devolved to eight Provincial Councils
• Agricultural extension functions of the DOA and DAPH
were largely devolved to the provinces
• In 1990, 2400 KVSs were assigned to Public
Administration as Village Officers (Grama Niladhari)
• Virtual breakdown of the extension service at the village
level
• Fragmentation of extension management with many
Ministries covering the subject of Agriculture
Devolution and Fragmentation

15. • In 1993, World Bank assisted Ag. Extension Project -
Integrated Agricultural Extension Approach (IAEA)
• Four government institutions - DOA, DAPH, Department
of Export Agriculture (DEA) and the Coconut Cultivation
Board (CCB).
• IAEA - cost effectiveness by sharing the grassroots level
extension workers
• Practice Farming systems approach
• Group extension approach e.g. Farmer Field School (FFS)
to promote Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
• Poor teamwork of higher level officers
Recovery through Integration

16. • From late 1990s Group extension method with farmers of
higher productivity potential
• Package of integrated crop management practices
promoted by use of innovative extension tools:
 Cyber extension service, Rice Knowledge Bank web site
 interactive multimedia CDs,
 Crop clinics,
 Media campaign,
 Picketing campaigns, and
 Cultivation and yield competitions were also
introduced and implemented to educate farmers
Rice production Yaya (Block) Demonstration Program

17. • Granary Area Program (GAP) - 2004 to 2007 in high
potential rice growing areas
• The rice yield of 4.5 t/ha increased to 5.4 t/ha after 3
years
• DOA acts as the mediator between relevant organizations
(Banks, Fertilizer and other inputs suppliers)
• Forward contract agreements
Rice production Yaya (Block) Demonstration Program Contd…

18. • In 2014, Phase 2 of Yaya launched
• Aim - increase national productivity to 5.3 Mt/ha by 2025
• Main interventions:
 Environment friendly Good Agricultural Practices - judicious use
of agrochemicals, IPNS and IPM etc.
 Use of mechanized farming techniques preferred by the young
farmers
 Increase cropping intensity with crop diversification to increase
the overall farm profitability
 Separate technology packages for main rice growing agro-
ecological regions
 Frequent monitoring and motivation by all stakeholders
Yaya 2 - Paddy Production program

19. • 1970s the Farm Women Agricultural Extension service with
female extension workers
• organize farm women to establish home gardens and other
mechanisms to improve the family income and nutrition.
• 1976 Home economics training programs for women
• 1982 programmes targeted to farm women included in
research and training agenda of DOA
• 1987 Gender neutral extension with both male and female
extension workers serving women island wide
• 2006 Farm Women organizations registered and constitution
formulated
• 2011 Women entrepreneurship promotion – training and
equipment, mobile demo vehicle etc.
Gender Sensitive Extension

20. • In 2004, Cyber Extension project started with 45 Cyber
Extension Units (CEU) at 45 Govijana Kendra (Agrarian
Service Centers)
• Interactive Multimedia based digital extension strategies
• CDMA telecommunication facility and internet
connections were provided
• Toll Free Agricultural Advisory Service with a dedicated
hot line number 1920, later with SMS services
• Agriculture Wikipedia (www.govia.lk) - a participatory
and interactive web tool
• Meteorological alerts through mobile phones
Cyber Extension: An ICT Initiative

21. • Substantial increase of field level extension
team
 1600 KVSs to work at village level under the
AIs operating at Agrarian Service Center level
 500 Agricultural Officers
 13 new Principal Scientists to be designated
as Principal Extensionists, Journalists or
Educationists
Proposed Reforms -2015

22. • Pilot project to explored the feasibility of private
advisory service by Second Perennial Crops
Development Project (SPSDP), funded by the ADB
• Involved 3 specialized in input supply, output
procurement, and crop advisory and farmer
services
• Fee-based services introduced
• Pilot study showed potential for fee-levying
private extension services among commercial-
oriented farmers
Private Extension Services

23. • Non-state Advisory services:
- Suppliers of inputs and Engaged in marketing
produce
- Development Agencies -INGOs, NGOs,
- Farmers cooperatives and societies
- Services limited by geography, product range
and, time
• None solely deliver advisory services to farmers
Private Extension ServicesContd …

24. Extension Service of leading Agribusiness
firms:
• Operate through regional sales offices
• Mobile units and other specialized teams
• Use of ICT and mass media in Novel and
interactive modes to attract young people
• Market-Oriented Advisory services (MOAs)
Operated by leading retail chains, organic
food exporters and niche product buyers
Private Extension Services Contd …

25. • Some tea processing factories have started PPP extension
• Two State sector Research and extension agencies (TRI and
TSHDA) work with Input suppliers through tea factories
• The factory staff reach the farmers frequently
• The technical knowledge of the factory-based para-
extension personnel is low
• Regular training and monitoring by the formal service help
improve the knowledge system
• Farmers involved in higher partnerships shown progress
• Feed back of farmer problems to the research
Private-public partnership Extension in Tea
smallholdings sector

26. Conclusions & Recommendations
• Reforms have forced the extension services to use less individual
methods and more group and mass methods
• Integrated and demand driven extension not realized by the
reforms
• Environment friendly technology dissemination justify public
funding e.g. IPM, IPNS, Marketing contracts, etc.
• Public sector can partner with extension services and function
effectively and efficiently
• Need to look for mechanisms that places agricultural extension
workers under the command of the farmer communities with
appropriate rewards for real achievements
• The young should be attracted to farming by employing creative use
of ICT

27. Docu-musical video drama developed to attract
the young people in rural areas into farming
Video Clip

29. • CIC Agri Business
 Started with the Pilot project under ADB
 Farm business services: soil-test based fertilizer
recommendation service, problem-oriented crop
protection advisory service, training in high-tech
crop production systems for horticultural
enterprises, etc.
 Over 110 extension staff work directly with over
20,000 farmers produce a variety of agricultural and
livestock products (e.g. paddy seed, rice, fruits,
vegetables, eggs, yoghurt)
• Other major input suppliers
Leading Private sector Extension services

30. Commodity Development Approach
• Improve Production and exports of fruits by
Intercropping fruits in Coconut lands, setting up Fruit
villages, Fruit fly eradication program and Certification of
fruits and vegetables for export
• Expansion of onion, potato, chili, Soya and vegetable
cultivation during off seasons and in new areas