Abstract:
Smallholder-agriculture dominates rural Sri Lanka, home to 80% of the population. Agriculture
employs 33% of the workforce and utilizes 44% of the land, yet contributing only 9% to the GDP.
Being unable to invest, poor smallholders loath to risk unfamiliar new technologies, meaning
low productivity and low returns. Research shows that the Sri Lankan agriculture sector is less
efficient than comparable countries.
We are marching towards a food crisis due to the rapid ageing of the farming population,
unattractiveness of the farming career to the youth, conversion of fertile land to non-agricultural
uses, water depletion and land degradation, harvest losses due to increasingly adverse climatic
phenomena, compounding pest and disease damage, high fluctuations in prices and crop
diversification issues. Developed countries face similar issues and, their extensive research and
development help them to overcome those challenges while better managing their food security.
One of the promising solutions is affordable climate-smart protected agriculture to liberate the
smallholders from the tyranny of the weather and seasonality. Research shows a potential 50%-
300% yield increase through environment-controlled agriculture. Under the current partnership
with the University of Ruhuna, Dialog is building a crop parameter related knowledge base
required for protected agriculture as well as conducting field testing to test the data in field
conditions. Low cost sensors and actuator nodes are developed through a partnership with
University of Moratuwa.
Main project components:
Developing the knowledge base for local crop recommendations and agroecological
zones
Develop necessary materials and knowledge for farmer training on new practices
Developing sensor and actuator kits that are fit-for-need and conditions, at one-tenth or
below the current market price
A data and knowledge management system on cloud
Advisory content for crop managing and maintaining
Technology Used:
IoT (Internet of Things) will connect sensors and actuators while remotely controlling and
monitoring the activities, with a monitoring panel accessible via smart phone. Further,
agriculture know-how for regular operation (i.e. fertilizer application, water management,
assessing growth and pest and disease identification) will be available at farmer’s fingertips
using mobile technology. Being cloud-connected, real-time roll-outs of rapid updates or
interventions to respond to short-term phenomena in agricultural operations will potentially
have a national level significance.
