Best wishes to all Sri Lankans to mark the New Year 2021

Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) extends its sincere greetings and best wishes to all Sri Lankans to mark the New Year 2021 a meaningful and fruitful one. We are entering a decade during which we must find solutions for combating climate change and building a better future for all. Therefore, CSIAP is making greater efforts in fighting climate change vowing to keep people safe and healthy as COVID-19 which, is spreading in our community, has been remaining an urgent task on an unprecedented scale.

May this year bring new happiness, new goals, new achievements, and a lot of new inspirations on your life. CSIAP encourages its beneficiaries to make 2021 a better year, and overcome challenges. May all Sri Lankans’ dreams come true and all their hopes are fulfilled. Let us all get together and join hands in order to strengthen and uplift our country. CSIAP wishes you a healthy, peaceful, and prosperous new year.

CSIAP is moving forward in 2021 to improve the agricultural economy in Sri Lanka

The climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) is moving forward in 2021 to improve living standards of farmers in CSIAP command areas and boost agroeconomic in Sri Lanka said, Miss. Sharmi Shanmuganathan, Gender Development Officer and Acting Social Safeguarded Officer, Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project, (CSIAP), with an exclusive interview with Tamil National Service of SLBC  on 24th Dec 2020. 

CSIAP is implementing COVID 19/ YALA 2020 Cultivation Programme, Mid-season Cultivation Programme, Maha Season Cultivation Programme, Cluster Village Development programmers, Climate Smart Nutritional Sensitive Home Garden Progaamme, 47 ASC Modernization and Digitalization, Rehabilitation of Agriculture Roads, Construction of Grain Warehouses, Cascade Development through the rehabilitation of minor and medium tanks, Establishment of Farm Field School at Thirappane and CSA Model Villages, She further added. This discussion was broadcasted simultaneously with  Thendral FM and Yaal FM of SLBC too.

Please click to listen to full interview on: Tamil Service at SLBC

The CSIAP Launches Farmers’ Database Training Programme for Project Staff

A special training programme on the Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) farmers’ database was held yesterday (22nd) at the Governor’s Auditorium of the North Central Provincial Council Office in Anuradhapura, under the patronage of Dr. Priyantha Weerasinghe, Project Director of CSIAP. This marks the first occasion on which CSIAP has conducted a dedicated training programme of this nature for its staff. 

Selected staff members from six Deputy Project Directors’ Offices, including Provincial Deputy Project Directors and senior officials of the Project Management Unit (PMU), participated in the programme. The training provided hands-on practical experience on the farmers’ database system, facilitated by Mr. Uvindu Anuradha and Mr. Ajantha Lakmal, Senior Web Developers from SLT Digital Info Services (Pvt) Ltd. The training team was led by Mr. Danushka Gangoda, Team Leader. Mr. Lakshman Premanath, Deputy Project Director of the CSIAP in the North Central Province, was also present at the programme.

Improving the productivity and climate resilience of smallholder agriculture

The climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project is to improve the productivity and climate resilience of smallholder agriculture through long-term sustainability of irrigation infrastructure development. The infrastructure supported under the project will be identified and designed based on projections of climate change including the frequency of drought and flood events both to maximize the availability of water to farmers and also to protect land and assets from potential flooding. Climate resilience is defined as the capacity of agricultural systems to respond to drought and flood by resisting or tolerating the impacts and recovering quickly, through integration of adaptation, mitigation, and other climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices.

Miss. Sharmi Shanmuganathan, Gender Development Officer and Acting Social Safeguarded Officer, Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project, (CSIAP), talks about CSIAP and its current activities on Tamil National Service, Thendral FM and Yaal FM at 7.30am on 16th Nov 2020.

Please click to listen: Tamil Service at SLBC

The International Rural Women’s Day

Recognizing rural women as ‘farmers’ and as ‘leaders’in adopting climate resilience agriculture technology and practices

 Sri Lanka is a lower-middle-income country with total population of 21.8 million of which 77.4% of the population is largely rural.[1] Overall, poverty level of the country is 6.7%, and poverty remains concentrated in rural areas - of the poor, 82 percent are rural residents.[2] While agriculture sector contributes 6.9 percent to GDP, the sector employs approximately 27% of the population, which is mostly rural..[3] While the share of women in agriculture has remained between 30-33% for over two and a half decades[4], women play a key role in agricultural production and processing, both in family and farms outside; though women’s role have been mostly limited to home gardening and small-scale farming activities.

 The World Bank funded “Climate Smart irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP)” targets farmers in climatically vulnerable hotpot areas to improve the productivity and resilience of smallholder agriculture activities.  As part of the project’s strategic and operational design, it seeks to address gender gaps and risks in order to empower women as ‘farmers’ and as ‘leaders’ in their communities for adopting climate resilience practices.

Rural women in farming communities face multiple challenges, 

which risks them of being excluded from benefiting from project activities  

During the project preparation and assessment phase, many issues were identified which limits and prevents women from equitably benefiting from and participating in agriculture activities. These issues include: lack of land and asset ownership which limits women’s ability to engage and grow their agricultural production and livelihoods (e.g. in Sri Lanka, only 16 % of all privately-owned land belongs to women)[1], lack of access to climate smart agriculture production technologies and marketing, lack of decision-making power as most of the farmer organizations are led by male farmers, inability to fully participate in agriculture activities due household and care responsibilities, additional requirements to hire labour, difficulties in traveling to agriculture lands which are generally away from residential locations, greater risks of impact from the Human elephant conflict (HEC) as women mostly engage in cultivation work during day time when HEC is most prevalent and impacts linked to domestic abuse/gender based violence with increased consumption of alcohol by men. With all these setbacks for rural women, the current COVID pandemic situation increases their vulnerability affecting household income, food security and nutrition. 

Rural women benefited from gender informed approaches in climate smart sub projects.

The project has taken multiplicity of actions to ensure the inclusion rural women in project activities. Thus the project has taken measures to:   

1.     reformulate project strategies during COVID19 period to implement several subprojects specially targeting rural women farmers to ensure their food and nutrition security.

2.    assess gender gaps, issues and risks during participatory rural needs assessments and social screening.  

3.    incorporate measures in hot-spot area development plans and social impact management plans to ensure women’s participation and inclusion.

4.    revise beneficiary selection criteria to be inclusive giving priority to women beneficiaries including vulnerable groups (such as women who are living under the poverty level, widows, families with young children and those living with elderly & disable persons)

5.     establish minimum targets for female beneficiaries in project interventions

6.    build capacities of project staff on gender issues and sensitize communities (both males and females) on principals of gender equity in line with the training manual developed.

7.     build capacities of women on climate-resilient agricultural technologies

8.    support to address risks of Human-Elephant conflict

9.    provide support to purchases assets, hire labour and access services (such as credit, childcare facilities, etc.)

10. strengthen links with community-based organizations to receive project implementation support 

11.  implement GBV prevention measures (i.e. Code of Conduct for Communities etc.) and strengthen GRM reporting measures for GBV.

12. increase women's engagement in decision making in Farmer’s Organizations, Producer’s Groups & Social Audit Committees including acting on issues affecting them 

Over 5,500 rural women farmers involved climate resilience agriculture practices

CSIAP strategies that are formulated and are being implemented have generated favorable outcomes for rural women farmers to ensure these groups are benefiting from climate resilience agriculture practices in an equitable manner. Therefore, in addition to increasing participation of women in project activities, the project has exceeded its target of 30% of beneficiaries to be women in all its programs and is also successfully implementing programs targeting 100% women as beneficiaries through its climate smart nutrition sensitive home gardening program. 

By Sharmi Shanmuganathan,
Gender Development Officer and Acting Social Safeguarded Officer, PMU, CSIAP.

[1] https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/srilanka/overview#1 & RPF of CSIAP.
[2] Sri Lanka Poverty Update 2019 - The World Bank South Asia
[3] PAD of CSIAP
[4] Assessment to develop strategies for promoting gender involvement and increasing nutrition levels of farmer families – CSIAP

The Yala 2020 is designed to promote the OFC cultivation

Mr Sisira Semasinghe, 

Agriculture Extension Specialist 

The Yala 2020 is designed to promote the Other Field Crops cultivation among the farming community in hot spot areas of the 11 districts of the island said Mr Sisira Semasinghe, Agriculture Extension Specialist of Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) with an exclusive interview with Lakhanda News on 11^th August 2020. 

This Yala 2020 covers the area of more than 3,600Ac of OFC (Groundnut, green gram, cowpea, chilli, maize, soya, red onion, kurakkan, sesame and Blake Gram are grown) cultivating lands of the country. Farmers who will be involving with the project have been familiar with the cultivation of OFCs and involving with the cultivation of OFCs for production purposes. The lessons learned by implementing the project in this season will be applied to correct mistakes in the coming seasons. In order to achieve the objectives of the programme,  many strategies have been planned to be implemented by the CSIAP with implementing agencies.

Please click  Lakhanda Newsto listen

Activities of CSNSHG and CVDP for the betterment of Sri Lanka

Mr Sisira Semasinghe, Agriculture Extension Specialist

Women farmers are provided greater access to agriculture expertise, participation in local cultivation planning and decision making under Climate Smart Nutrient Sensitive Home Garden (CSNSHG); they are also provided adequate representation at all levels in relevant planning and decision making addressing the gender gap. CSNSHG is identified as the women farmer-based activity targeting to empower women farmers

A cluster village is an area where farmers are cultivation same crop or crop combinations following the Climate Smart Practices under the Cluster Village Development Programe (CVDP) . Cluster Village hence act as a Climate smart model village for farmers in hot spot areas and act as a information exchange and feedback receival village on Climate Smart Agriculture providing greater learning experience for farmers. The basic idea of each Cluster Village is to increase farmer income, applying all possible Climate Smart Agriculture practices. 

Mr Sisira Semasinghe, Agriculture Extension Specialist, Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) explained the current status of both CSNSHG and CVDP, which is being implemented by CSIAP , in an exclusive interview with Lakhanda Radio on 29^th this month.

Please click Lakhnda Radio to listen .

Harvesting under Yala 2020 to strengthen food production in Sri Lanka

Harvesting of cultivation in hotspot areas in 11 districts of six  provinces  in the dry zone of Sri Lanka under  Yala 2020 food production program launched by the Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) has been broadcasted by national Radios.  The news was in the main news bulletins of Sinhala, Tamil  and English services of Sri Lanka Broadcasting Services and Lakhanda Radio of Independent Television Network today (24^th).

Yala 2020 food production programme goes in line with the programme of the Implementation Ministry in promotion of food crops cultivation in the Yala 2020 season to overcome possible food shortage that could surface out owing to COVID 19 pandemic. It focuses on the promotion of Other Field Crops Cultivation following Climate Smart Agriculture Practices  in hot spot areas of 11 districts as from the food crops sector Other field crops occupy the highest share of importation at present. 

More than 7000 farmers affected by climate changes in Hambantota, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Ampara, Polonnaruwa, Anuradhapura, Puttalam, Kurunegala and Monaragala  have been selected for the above purpose. Cultivation is being carried out on 3635 acres and it is expected to produce nearly 8000 tons of OFCs.  Groundnut, green gram, cowpea, chilli, maize, soya, red onion, kurakkan, sesame and Blake Gram are grown under this programme. The  CSAIP contribution to this project is Rs 115.12M..8M.
Please click to listen:Lakhanda Radio, Sinhala Services at SLBC, Tamil Services at SLBC and  English services st SLBC

An Awareness Programme on the CSNSHG for Gov.Officers in Buttala

An awareness programme on the Climate Smart Nutrient Sensitive Home Garden (CSNSHG), for officers in Buttala and Welaway Divisional Secretariats Areas, Uva Province was held at the Divisional Secretariats, Buttala on 21st this month.  Climate Smart Nutrient Sensitive Home Garden is a very special programme that has been planned to implement with 2695 women farmers is aiming to increase the nutrition level of the farming families to ensure adequate immunity level to face COVID-19 pandemic. 

Mr. I. H. Dharmasekara, Deputy Project Director, CSIAP is addressing the audience

This program is implemented in all 11 districts to establish 2695 sustainable home gardens applying Climate Smart practices to provide nutrient enrich diet to farmers. CSNSHG is in line with the “Saubagya Gewaththa” implemented by the Ministry of Mahaweli, Agriculture, Irrigation and Rural Development Mr. S. K . Semasinghe, Agriculture Extension Specialist at Project Management Unit and Dr.Y. Ketipearachchi, Agriculture Specialist in Uva Province, CSIAP delivered lectures to educate officers too.

Officers of Department Agriculture (Provincial Uva), Department of Agriculture (Inter Provincial-Uva), Agrarian Services Department (Wellawaya, Buttala, Thelulla) and Divisional Secretariats Offices (Buttala, Wellwaya) attended this programme.

Mr. S. K . Semasinghe, Agriculture Extension Specialist, Mrs. S. M. S. Udayangani, Assistant Director, Department of Agriculture, Mr. H.K. P Jayalath, Deputy Director, Department of Agriculture(Provincial-Uva), Mrs. K, A. R. M, Karunanayakr, Assistant Director (Planning), Divisional Secretariat, Buttala and   Dr. Y. Ketipearachchi, Agriculture Specialist CSIAP were at the head table while Mr. I. H. Dharmasekara, Deputy Project Director, CSIAP is addressing the audience.

The first groundnut harvest at the Nediyamadu Cluster Village in Batticaloa

Symbolically, the District Secretary receives  the first groundnut harvest

The commencement of first groundnut harvesting at the Nediyamadu Cluster Village in Batticaloa was ceremonially held under the “Field Day” programme on the 10th  this month. The event took place under the patronage of Mrs. Kalamathy Pathmarjah, District Secretary of Batticaloa. Symbolizing the success of the cultivation effort, the first harvest of groundnuts from the village was formally presented to the District Secretary.  

Dignitaries in Attendance
Mr. S. Suthakar, Divisional Secretary of Manmunai West, and Mrs. Sasikala Punniyamoorthy, Director (Planning), Batticaloa District Secretariat, attended the occasion as Guests of Honour. Their presence highlighted the strong institutional support extended to the farming community in the area.

Technical Demonstrations for Farmers
As part of the Field Day activities, Mr. K. Vishnukaran, Technical Assistant of the SLGAP Division, Department of Agriculture, conducted practical demonstrations for farmers. He shared best practices on achieving higher yields in groundnut cultivation and methods to prevent and control insect pests that damage crops.

 

The CSIAP Support Boosts Groundnut Cultivation

The Field Day Demonstration

Groundnuts were cultivated over an extent of 50 acres in Nediyamadu village by 50 farm families with the direct support of the Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP), funded by the World Bank. The project provided comprehensive assistance, including quality seed material and technical guidance, ensuring the success of the cultivation programme. 

Formation of Groundnut Producer Society

In view of the large number of farmers involved, the “Nediyamadu Groundnut Producer Society” was established and registered under the Department of Agriculture. The society is expected to strengthen collective action, improve market access, and promote sustainable groundnut production in the area. 

Dr. R.M. Ariyadasa, Deputy Project Director of the Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) in the Eastern Province, along with his team, organized the event. Mr. Amal Arunapriya, Institutional & Capacity Building Specialist at the PMU of CSIAP, participated, alongside 60 officers from the Manmunai West Divisional Secretariat, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Agrarian Development, as well as 50 local groundnut farmers.

Yala 2020 is now in operation throughout the country

Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project implements Yala 200  which is in line with the programme implemented by the  Ministry of Agriculture to overcome possible food shortage that could surface out owing to COVID 19 pandemic. Therefore, this project will be implemented in all climatically vulnerable hot spot areas identified by the project covering 11 districts of the island giving priority for the promotion of Other Food crops (OFC). The total cultivable area expected to cover by the project is 4,029.4 Ac involving with more than 7,074 beneficiaries. The project aims to grow OFC in fields coming under the command area of tanks with adequate water applying climate-smart practices.

Harvesting cowpea  in the field

The COVID -19 pandemic occurred in end 2019 will limit the future food supply of the country owing not only to the limited availability of food items in the export market but also to the unhealthy financial status of the country to import those. Under this circumstance, the Government of Sri Lanka has launched a Saubhagya National Food Production Drive persuading the cultivation of all food crops. Consistent with the AgStat volume XVI (Department of Agriculture, 2019), it was noted that from the total importation of food items, OFC alone utilizes 39.26% of the food import bill. Further, the decision recently taken by the cabinet of ministers to limit imports except pharmaceuticals and petroleum will create a food shortage in the market in the short run.

To face this situation, the Presidential Task Force established to fight for Covid 19, has declared the promotion of food crops as an urgent need and which has become a high priority in the country at present. This task force has identified Maize, Mung bean, Ground nut, Cowpea, Kollu, Sesame, Kurakkan, Chili, Soya, B Onion, Red Onion, Black gram, Turmeric and Ginger as the main crops to be given priority.

The main objective  of the Yala 2020

To support more than 7,000 farmers in hot spot areas of 11 districts to cultivate OFCs in 4,029.4 acres to increase food production in the country and the annual farmer family income by 10%.

Beneficiaries of  Yala 2020
The number of direct beneficiaries of the sub-project is 7074 farmers in all hot spot areas. Out of which 4882 farmers are male and 2192 are female. No of women headed farmer families involved in the sub-project is 384.

Type of agricultural inputs and assistance for beneficiaries.

It is proposed that the selected farmers will be provided with seed materials required for the cultivation of identified crops. the table  shows the seed requirement for different OFC crops that would be cultivated under the project.

Kurakkan:(Extent Ac: 8.4, Seed requirement Kg: 25.2), Sesame :(Extent Ac: 10, Seed requirement Kg: 30), Maize -Hybrid:(Extent Ac: 74, Seed requirement Kg: 370),Mung Bean:(Extent Ac: 553.5, Seed requirement Kg: 6642), Soya: (Extent Ac: 60, Seed requirement Kg: 1200), Groundnut :(Extent Ac: 1658, Seed requirement Kg: 66320), Cowpea: (Extent Ac: 1151.5, Seed requirement Kg: 17275.5), Blackarm: (Extent Ac: 25, Seed requirement Kg: 250),Chilli-(Extent Ac: 379, Seed requirement Kg: 151) and Red Onion -Bulb: (Extent Ac: 110, Seed requirement Kg: 66000)..

By Mr. Sisira Semasinghe, Agriculture Extension Specialist, PMU, CSIAP.

CSIAP’s Cluster Village Development Programme is now underway

The main objective of the Cluster Village Development Programme (CVDP) is to contribute to the government of Sri Lanka to reduce the importation cost of selected crop products, increase the farmer annual income and maximum utilization of farmer land for higher productivity. 

Under this program, a Cluster Villages are established in an each hotspot district with selected crops applying all possible climate-smart practices by farmers with market-oriented products in the village. This village is developed as a ‘Climate Smart Modal Village’ which will provide a greater learning experience for farmers in hot spot areas.
Please click to listen: CVDP on SLBC Radio

The CVDP Gets Underway in 11 Hotspot Districts to Prevent Future Food Shortages

The Cluster Village Development Programme (CVDP) has been designed to increase farmer income and reduce food importation by applying a comprehensive range of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices across 11 hotspot districts. The programme covers an extent of 530 acres and directly benefits 630 farmers. With a total project expenditure of Rs. 43.0 million, the initiative has progressed successfully despite numerous challenges arising from the prevailing socio-economic conditions in the country. The strong commitment and collaboration of both project officials and farmers have been key contributors to the programme’s success. 

Contribution to National Food Security
The CVDP is one of four key programmes launched by the CSIAP in parallel with the National Food Production Drive under “Saubhagye Dekma”. The initiative was introduced to mitigate potential food shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and to ensure a stable and resilient food supply system for the country. The CSIAP has initiated plans to launch a CVDP in each district where the project is currently being implemented. This programme targets pre-determined hotspot areas across eleven districts, namely Kurunegala, Puttalam, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Trincomalee, Batticaloa Ampara, Monaragala and Hambantota.

Objective of the Cluster Village Programme
The main objective of the Cluster Village Programme is to develop model cluster villages in hotspot areas by promoting market-driven crop cultivation using Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices. The initiative aims to enhance agricultural productivity, strengthen farmer incomes, and improve climate resilience while ensuring the sustainability of natural resources.
 
Discussion with World Bank and CSIAP Officials
A special discussion on the Cluster Village Programme was recently held at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute, Colombo 07, with the participation of World Bank officials and the CSIAP staff. The discussion focused on implementation strategies, institutional coordination, and expected outcomes of the programme. 

Dr. Weerasinghe conducting the session with Eng. Sivalingam, and Mr Manoharan seated beside them

The discussion was conducted by Dr. Priyantha Weerasinghe, Deputy Project Director of CSIAP, who facilitated in-depth deliberations on the proposed Cluster Village Programme. Dr. Weerasinghe outlined the programme framework, implementation mechanisms, and expected outcomes, while encouraging active engagement from both the CSIAP staff and World Bank representatives. The CSIAP team was led by Eng. Nadaraja Sivalingam, Project Director of the CSIAP, provided overall leadership and strategic direction for the discussion. Representing the World Bank, Mr. Seenithamby Manoharan, Task Team Leader of the CSIAP and Senior Rural Development Specialist, emphasised the importance of integrating climate-smart agriculture practices with market-oriented approaches to ensure sustainable livelihoods in hotspot areas.Mr. Sarath Wickramarathne, Consultant, and Mr. V. Mohamed Ameen, Consultant (Financial Management) of the World Bank also participated in this event.

Contribution to National Food Security

The Cluster Village Development Programme is one of four key programmes launched by the Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) in parallel with the National Food Production Drive under “Saubhagye Dekma”. The initiative was introduced to mitigate potential food shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and to ensure a stable and resilient food supply system for the country.

Benefits to CSIAP Beneficiaries under the Cluster Village Programme

The programme offers a wide range of benefits to participating farmers, including: 

• Identifying viable marketing opportunities for agricultural produce
• Selecting suitable crops and lands based on climate and market demand
• Developing water resources and related infrastructure

• 

  A demonstration programme conducted under the CVDP

  Providing 50% of required agricultural inputs through the project
• Forming market-oriented producer groups and farmer societies
• Establishing trade agreements to directly link farmers with markets
• Introducing smart technologies for product marketing, weather information, cultivation practices, and trade updates
• Training farmers on climate-resilient cultivation practices
• Conducting Farmer Business School training programmes
• Supporting farmers to become agro-entrepreneurs
• Providing seed support and technology transfer
• Implementing sustainable home and village garden development programmes
• Enhancing and protecting village ecosystems
• Providing facilities to enable cultivation in each landholding
• Improving market and agricultural access infrastructure
• Establishing village-centred markets
• Setting up processing and packing centres
• Providing storage facilities for producer groups
• Supplying plastic crates and agricultural implements for post-harvest handling
• Establishing demonstration plots showcasing climate-smart agricultural practices
• Evaluating farmer performance and introducing reward mechanisms to recognize best practices

Through these integrated interventions, the Cluster Village Development Programme plays a vital role in promoting climate resilience, improving farmer livelihoods, strengthening market linkages, and contributing to national food security. 

By Sisira Semasinghe, Agriculture Extension Specialist, PMU, CSIAP

CSIAP extends its sincere greetings and best wishes to Sinhalese and Tamils

Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project extends its sincere greetings and best wishes to the Sinhala and Tamil community to mark the Sinhala and Hindu New Year in a meaningful and fruitful manner. Currently, we are passing through uncertain and unprecedented period due to Covid 19. We must do the right things and be prepared to take steps beyond what we are typically required to defeat this pandemic. We hope that all Sri Lankans are safe and well during this critical time. We stand with all Sri Lankans and with the world at large in these trying times. We wish for a full recovery for all the infected and we are confident that together we will overcome this new challenging crisis very soon.

This New Year is the national and cultural festival of the people in Sri Lanka. The dawn of New Year is the most powerful cultural festival which unites all Sri Lankans. This is the season where all people enjoy traditional merrymaking. The New Year binds with the traditional customs which blooms interrelations, family relationships and friendships. Let us all get together and join hands in order to strengthen and uplift our country.  Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project wishes you a healthy, peaceful, and prosperous new year. 

CSIAP is moving forward to boost the agricultural economy and living standards

Dr. Priyantha Weerasinghe,
Deputy Project Director, CSIAP

CSIAP is moving forward to boost the agricultural economy of the country and uplift the living standards of farmers in climatically vulnerable hot spots areas of 11 districts of the country despite a critical situation where the whole country is facing due to the Covid19 pandemic said, Dr. Priyantha Weerasinghe, Deputy Project Director, Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) with  excursive interviews with National electronic media.  

Expressing furthermore during the interviews with the SLBC, Lakhanda and Ruhunu Sevaya, Dr. Weerasinghe said that this project aims to improve the climate resilience of farming communities through increasing  productivity in climatically vulnerable Hot-Spot Areas identified in 11 districts of Sri Lanka.

In moving forward the project is implementing a program to increase other field crops production covering more than 3000 ac and 5000 beneficiary farmers in this Yala season in all 11 districts and the project will be implemented over six years (2018-2024), he further added.
Please click to listen: 
SLBC Sinhala Service, SLBC Tamil Service, SLBC English Service, Lakhanda and Ruhunu Sevaya.

The HSAADP is being reviewed by CSIAP with the World Bank

Hot Spot Area Agriculture Development Plan (HSAADP) of the Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) is currently being reviewed at the Uva Management Development Institute (UMDI), Passara. It has been decided that all the specialists of CSIAP must review the HSAAD plans developed by the consultancy firms to make certain that HSAADPs are well prepared, organized.  

Eng. Nadaraja Sivalingam, Project Director, CSIAP, is explaining the objectives of the HSAADP

The HSAADP is the key instrument of the CSIAP project which would identify necessary interventions to be carried out in Hot spot areas during the period of its implementation based on the HSAADPs developed. It is expected that the HSAADPs will propose productive, economically sound, environmentally friendly and socially acceptable interventions for the respective Hot spot areas assuring the improvement of agriculture livelihood of the community.

The Project Management Unit (PMU) of the CSIAP has organized this two-day training workshop for the specialists and officers of the CSIAP to furnish them with necessary understanding of reviewing the HSAADP with the assistance of experts from the World Bank. Representing the World Bank Mr. Seenithamby Manoharan, Task Team Leader  of CSIAP and Senior Rural Development Specialist,  Mr. Sarath Wickramarathne, Consultant, Dr. Gamini  Wickramasinghe, Consultant (Social Safeguard) also participated in this event.

The CSIAP Launches Cluster Village Programme in Eleven Districts

Dr. Weerasinghe conducting the session with Eng. Sivalingam, and Mr Manoharan seated beside them 

The Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) has initiated plans to launch a Cluster Village Programme in each district where the project is currently being implemented. This programme targets pre-determined hotspot areas across eleven districts, namely Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Hambantota, Monaragala, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Kurunegala, Puttalam, Trincomalee, Batticaloa, and Ampara

Objective of the Cluster Village Programme
The main objective of the Cluster Village Programme is to develop model cluster villages in hotspot areas by promoting market-driven crop cultivation using Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices. The initiative aims to enhance agricultural productivity, strengthen farmer incomes, and improve climate resilience while ensuring the sustainability of natural resources.
 
Discussion with World Bank and CSIAP Officials 
A special discussion on the Cluster Village Programme was recently held at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute, Colombo 07, with the participation of World Bank officials and the CSIAP staff. The discussion focused on implementation strategies, institutional coordination, and expected outcomes of the programme.

The discussion was conducted by Dr. Priyantha Weerasinghe, Deputy Project Director of CSIAP, who facilitated in-depth deliberations on the proposed Cluster Village Programme. Dr. Weerasinghe outlined the programme framework, implementation mechanisms, and expected outcomes, while encouraging active engagement from both the CSIAP staff and World Bank representatives. The CSIAP team was led by Eng. Nadaraja Sivalingam, Project Director of the Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP), provided overall leadership and strategic direction for the discussion. Representing the World Bank, Mr. Seenithamby Manoharan, Task Team Leader of the CSIAP and Senior Rural Development Specialist, emphasised the importance of integrating climate-smart agriculture practices with market-oriented approaches to ensure sustainable livelihoods in hotspot areas.

Specific Objectives Discussed
During the discussion, several specific objectives of the Cluster Village Programme were outlined, including:

• Establishing 11 Climate Smart Production Villages, one in each selected district.
• Modifying 47 Agriculture Service Centers to function as efficient and effective one-stop service centers for farmers.
• Renovating water bodies in 11 selected villages to improve water availability and management.
• Establishing Haritha Uyana to promote environmentally friendly and green village concepts.
• Appraising and rewarding 11 farmers—one from each village—for adopting best Climate Smart Agriculture practices.
• Training 110 selected farmers from the 11 villages on entrepreneurship development using the Farmer Business School methodology.
• Forming 22 Producer Groups across the 11 villages and enhancing leadership and management skills of their leaders.
• Introducing 11 potential market linkage avenues to farmers through producer groups.
• Promoting five water-saving techniques and rainwater harvesting methods among farmers during the Yala season.
• Establishing 22 market-driven CSA crops in the 11 selected villages during the Yala and Maha seasons of 2020.

Representing the World Bank, Mr. Sarath Wickramarathne, Consultant, and Mr. V. Mohamed Ameen, Consultant (Financial Management) also participated in this event.

 

CSIAP and its objectives on SLBC

All three services of Si Lanka Broadcasting Corporation broadcasted the news of the Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) and its objectives in Sinhalese, Tamil and English.

Please click to listen: SLBC Sinhala service,  SLBC Tamil Service and  SLBC English Service

CSIAP and its objectives on the Sanhinda Live TV Programme of SLRC

Mr. Amal Arunapriya, Institutional Development & Capacity Building Specialist and Mr. Sisira Semasinghe, Agriculture Extension Specialist of the Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) were on Sanhinda Live TV Programme on 21st Jan 2020 to talk about CSIAP and its objectives.

Please click to watch: Sanhinda on YouTube or Sanhinda on Facebook

There are four project components:
Component 1: Agriculture Production and Marketing (US$42 million). Subcomponent 1.1: Climate Smart Agriculture and Water Technology (US$21 million). Subcomponent 1.2: Marketing (US$21 million).

Component 2: Water for Agriculture (US$92 million). bSubcomponent 2.1: Rehabilitation of Irrigation Systems (US$86 million). bSubcomponent 2.2: Operation and Maintenance of Irrigation Systems (US$6 million).

Component 3: Project Management (US$6 million). Component 4: Contingent Emergency Response (US$0 million).

CSIAP and its objectives on the Saaratha Bahagira Live Radio Programme of SLBC

Mr. W. G. Gnanadasa, Senior Engineer and  Mr. Sisira Semasinghe, Agriculture Extension Specialist of the Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) were on Saaratha Bahagira Live Radio Programme of SLBC  on 07th Jan 2020 to talk about CSIAP and its objectives.

Please click  to listen: Saaratha Bahagira on YouTube or  Saaratha Bahagira on Facebook

The main economic project benefits are expected to come from (a) increases in the area under production and crop productivity through improved irrigations systems and farmers’ adoption of climate-resilient technologies; (b) diversification from food grains into climate-adaptive, higher-value agriculture; and (c) improved postharvest management, value addition, and marketing. In addition to the increases in productivity and production of higher-value crops, it is expected that establishing PGs and facilitating private sector links will lead to increased incomes of beneficiaries due to (a) higher prices for the agricultural produce through better aggregation and new market channels, also resulting from improved market information; (b) potentially reduced input prices resulting from procurement by the PGs in bulk; and (c) increased value addition through CSCs established by the PGs for postharvest activities, including aggregation, cleaning, grading, sorting, and processing.