Satellite technology to reduce the impact of climate change for rice production
The Director General of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) said that they are ready to provide required technical assistance in utilizing satellite technology to reduce the impact of climate change on the country’s rice production.
The Director General of the IRRI Dr. Matthew Morell made these remarks when he and his delegation met with President Maithripala Sirisena at the President’s Official Residence in Colombo, yesterday (19).
During this meeting he emphasized the importance of being self-sufficientto meet the demand forrice consumption nationallywith the climatic changes faced by the countries in the region.
The Director General said that their institutionis keen to work with the Department of Agriculture to increase the quality of rice production in Sri Lanka and to provide technical assistance to reduce post-harvest losses. He also said that it is expected to introduce new techniques to promote the value addition of rice.
Expressing his views President Sirisena said that the country’s rice production has been affected due to climatic changes that were experienced in the recent past.
The President said that the objective of the Government is to transform Sri Lanka into a self-sufficient nation while facing such challenges and further said that it is expected to exchange the new technical knowledge and experiences with the other countries in the region.
The President extended his gratitude to the Director General of the International Rice Research Institute for visiting Sri Lanka and said that he wish to visit the IRRI in Philippines in the near future.
(President’s Media)
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These technologies are irrelavant when other resources are made available to the farmers like credit, fertiliser, pestcide etc. Once upon a time the department of agriculture has some policy that was well co-ordinated. The research department did some work trying to develop varieties and testing various fertiliser formulations to optimse yields. The extensiondpertment saw to to it that these reserch finds went to the farmers and the farmers had access to the inputs. The venetual otcome was that farming was something beyond susbsistence, The paddy marketing board managed to purchase around 20 percent of the crop that maintained some sort of stability. With decentralisation the whole system disintegrated. The department of Griculture was nothing more thatn a white elephant and the resul is what it is today. The tea rubber institutes was leading force in these fields and they arenothing more than employment institutes.
Sirisena is a big hypocrite all he has done for agricuture is exploit it through his brothers in trying to monopolise rice milling in Polonnaruwa the largest producer of ricenand one is not sure as to whether it is the case now.
The country is in chaso and sirisena is blind to it. The attack on the buddhist is not an isolated event and it is well cordinated and the forces responsible for these recent events has yet to be identified. These problesms need to be adressed and political solutions osught. The Chinese presence in Hambantota is a pain in the neck for the Indians the proxy warriors of the americans. When indians need to develop a formula of peaceful co-existence they are moving out of its orbit to support the americans in the Pacific. The Indians inspite of its boast is ohting more than cannon fodder in the even of a major conflict insouth asia