Summary

The Government policy making bodies identify food production while protecting the environment, natural resources, and bio-diversity needs to be given high priority in Sri Lanka’s development strategies. Therefore, research, development and relevant interventions on minimizing the use of chemical inputs in crop based production systems would have high impact on the country’s development. Rice utilizes the highest proportion of agrochemicals imported to Sri Lanka (e.g. over 70% of national fertilizer usage) and has led to political and social unrests despite being self-sufficient in production. About 50 -70% of the applied chemical fertilizers is not taken up by rice plants and lost to the environment in local rice based cropping systems. This directly contributes to increase cost associated with fertilizer inputs. Nutrient losses and the impurities contain in imported chemical fertilizers increase expenditures on recovering from environmental damage caused by indiscriminate use of fertilizers. This project proposes to develop eco-friendly farming technologies that could reduce chemical fertilizer usage while safeguarding food security and environmental health in Sri Lanka.

Through seven work packages, our research team, attached to multiple centres, will work on multiple disciplines to deliver several outputs that weave into an eco-friendly and cost effective nutrient management package for rice cultivation in Sri Lanka. As the first step,a farmer friendly nutrient management decision support tool will be developed with the help of International Plant Nutrition Institute. With this tool, farmers will be able to easily determine the optimum fertilizer requirement in their rice fields. The potential of native soil microorganisms to increase availability of nutrients will be converted into biofertilizer to substitute chemical fertilizers, at least partially. In the process, we also try to recycle agricultural wastes to produce a good soil conditioner (biochar) and bio-energy. Biochar will be used to produce a slow-release urea fertilizer to increase the use efficiency of urea. Best nutrient management practices for the developed new technologies will be identified. A comprehensive socio-economic analysis of the deliverables achieved will be conducted. The impact of the developed technologies on toxic element availability in the soil, the health of plant and soil will also be studied. On the other hand, these technologies are expected to reduce the use of other agro chemical in rice fields. The technologies developed will be disseminated to farmers, private sector investors, and other stakeholders through participatory research and workshops. The Department of Agriculture, the responsible institute for making recommendation and knowledge dissemination for rice cultivation in Sri Lanka, is a partner in this project.

Our target is to develop technologies that will eventually help to reduce chemical fertilizer usage by 25 to 50% in the country. A minimum of 20% saving in chemical fertilizer used in rice cultivation can have a monitory saving as high as Rs.5600Million annually. There will be many virtual rewards by safeguarding the environment as well.

Objectives

• To develop eco- and farmer-friendly technologies to increase use efficiency of chemical fertilizers in rice cultivation of Sri Lanka and thereby to reduce the chemical fertilizer usage in the country. It is also intended to investigate the effectiveness of such technologies to improve plant health and to reduce the usage of other agrochemicals in the rice fields. The developed technologies will be introduced to growers through possible partnership with private sector investors.

Major Equipment Facilitated by Grant

• Portable infrared sensor
• CN analyser
• Gel-documentation system
• DGGE unit
• Locally manufactured furnace

Designation

Principal Investigator (PI)

Deputy Principal Investigator (DPI)

Co- investigator

Co- investigator

Co- investigator

Co- investigator

Co- investigator

Co- investigator

Co- investigator

Co- investigator

Co- investigator

Co- investigator

Co- investigator

Institute

Department of Soil Science University of Peradeniya

Department of Soil Science University of Peradeniya

Rice Research Development Institute

University of Sri Jayawardenepura

University of Peradeniya

University of Peradeniya

University of Peradeniya

Wayamba University of Sri Lanka

International Plant Nutrition Institute India

University of Winnipeg Canada

Wayamba University of Sri Lanka

University of Peradeniya

University of Peradeniya