{"id":2842,"date":"2021-05-23T05:31:47","date_gmt":"2021-05-23T05:31:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/imcedu.com\/new\/?page_id=2842"},"modified":"2024-05-10T04:45:19","modified_gmt":"2024-05-10T04:45:19","slug":"ensuring-food-security-through-developing-climate-smart-crop-varieties-and-cultivation-techniques-in-sri-lanka","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.nrc.gov.lk\/index.php\/ensuring-food-security-through-developing-climate-smart-crop-varieties-and-cultivation-techniques-in-sri-lanka\/","title":{"rendered":"Ensuring food security through developing climate smart crop varieties and cultivation techniques in Sri Lanka"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n
\n\n\t

Ensuring food security through developing climate smart crop varieties and cultivation techniques in Sri Lanka<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>

NRC Grant No:<\/b>    NRC TO 14-24<\/p>

Research Institute: <\/b>Field Crops Research and Development Institute<\/p>

Amount Funded:<\/b> Rs. 49,300,000.00<\/p>

Date of Awarded:<\/b> 17th<\/sup> August 2014<\/p>

End Date:<\/b> 17th<\/sup> August 2019<\/p>

Status:<\/text><\/strong>  <\/text>Completed<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\n \"\"\n <\/figure>
\n

Principal Investigator\r\n<\/h2>

Dr. W.M.W. Weerako
\nField Crops Research and Development Institute<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/article><\/div><\/div>

\n \"\"\n <\/figure>
\n

Deputy Principal Investigator <\/h2>

Dr. J. M. J. B. Senanayake
\nField Crops Research and Development Institute<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/article><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>

<\/p>\n

Summary<\/h2>\n

Food security, which is when all its people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life (FAO, 1996), is challenged by a growing complex of highly connected environmental problems including the impact of climate change. Even though many other growing challenges would have threatened the humanity, global food and nutritional security is the major regional as well as global concern as the world prepares to face the growing challenge of over population. Ensuring food security is the core endeavor behind development of the food crop sector in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka has attained self-sufficiency in rice and near self-sufficiency in many food crops such as Vegetables and Maize. The demand for food however, is increasing steadily at both global and local scale. It is predicted that the share of agriculture to the Sri Lankan GDP would decrease to 8% while the per capita income would increase to well over US $ 4000 (Central bank of Sri Lanka) in 2016. This trend will continue and would certainly change the food habits. Even though Sri Lanka gained self-sufficiency in rice in 2010, in the last two years, the rice production fell below the requirement owing to severe droughts and floods demonstrating the vulnerability of this sector to changes in environmental fluctuations. Further, Sri Lanka produced about 99%, 60%, 30%, 37% of the maize, green gram and dry chilli and onion requirements, respectively leading to importation of these food items (Agstat, 2013).<\/p>\n

With the change in food habits, increased consumption of meat and dairy products would create an additional pressure on feed supply, which will have a heavy burden on grain production systems with increased competition for land, water and energy. Exploiting new lands for increased food production would be an unlikely, costly solution, as biodiversity and public goods provided by the natural ecosystems need to be protected. Therefore, farm productivity should be increased by reducing the yield gap with management options and by further increasing the realizable potential of varieties.<\/p>\n

Changes in both global and local scale climates have a profound impact on local agriculture production, which has potentially serious consequences for food security as food production systems interact very closely with water, climate and land resources. In 2013, the current population breathed air containing more than 400 ppm of CO2 and would further increase in the fore-seeable future with the current extent of human-induced environmental destruction. Those crops with the C3 photosynthetic mechanism would be largely benefited with ultimate increase in productivity. However, along with the increase in atmospheric CO2, many abiotic and biotic constraints would have a profound negative impact on the food production systems, irrespective of the productive mechanisms of crops. Increasing temperature and variation of rainfall have been observed in Sri Lanka. Increased air temperatures above thresholds and reduction of the quality and quantity of irrigation water while changes in the population dynamics of weeds, insects and pathogens and their virulence would certainly have a negative impact. Thus, options lie on identifying vulnerable ecosystems and minimizing the impacts through changing agricultural practices. Novel short season cultivars, which can withstand abiotic stresses such as water and high temperature stress etc. are needed. Climate smart cultivation techniques, irrigation and water conservation and storage systems and cropping systems with modified cropping calendars have proved an increased resilience to climate change, which would ultimately decrease negative impacts of climate change on food security in Sri Lanka. Preserving the environment with less agro chemicals using varieties resistant\/tolerant to major biotic stresses and weed competitiveness is a timely need. Further accurate predictions on productivity and production under different weather scenarios are needed.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/p>\n

Objectives<\/h2>\n