The current status and future plans of the CSIAP discussed

 

A special discussion about the current status and future plans of the CSIAP was held under the patronage of Hon. Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Minister of Agriculture,  yesterday (07th) at the Ministry of Agriculture.

 The World Bank Officials, Prof. Udith K. Jayasinghe, Secretary & Officials of Ministry of Agriculture, Chief Secretaries & representatives of North Western, North Central, Northern, Eastern, Uva and Southern provinces, Senior Officials of Department of Agriculture, Project Director, Deputy Project Director & Provincial Deputy Project Directors, CSIAP attended this discussion.

The progress of the modernization of ASCs in the CSIAP command area reviewed

A special discussion about the modernization of Agrarian Sevice Centers (ASCs)  in the CSIAP command area was held between top officials of the Department of Agrarian Development (DAD) and the Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) was held at DAD Head Office  Colombo Yesterday (08^th).

Under the modernization, the CSIAP is involved in developing the ASC as a One-Stop Service Centre, which provides modern services to the farmers to become resilient to the changing climate situation and thereby to overcome the issues hinder their productivity. The major interventions are;

 ·       Renovating, expanding and refurbishing existing 47 office buildings of the ASCs within areas of the CSIAP to function as an attractive and productive One-stop Service Centers. The estimated of the above civil work is  Rs. 336.18 M.

·       Establishing full pledged ICT unit within each of the 47 ASC with trained officials and the necessary equipment to provide required data related to weather forecast, market, new technology for farmers under digitalization of ASC. The estimated total cost of this to pilot in 02 ASCs (Parangiyawadiya of Anuradhapura District and Weerawila of Hambantota District) out of 47 ASCs is Rs 8,159,333.00. The CSIAP will contribute Rs: 6.68M. while the DAD will provide Rs 1,47M. It is expected to extend the implementation of this in rest of the 45 ASCs in the next year

·       Establishing a Farm Machinery Hub (FMU) in each of the 47 ASC managed by the Agrarian Development Committee (ADC) of the ASC to prevent exploitation of farmers from the middlemen and also to provide an opportunity for the Agrarian Committee to develop the Agrarian Fund.The total estimated cost of this to pilot in 02 ASCs (Parangiyawadiya of Anuradhapura District and Weerawila of Hambantota District) out of 47 ASCs is approximately Rs 240M. It is expected to extend the implementation of this in rest of the 45 ASCs in the next year.

Dr. Priyantha Weerasinghe, Acting Project Director and Provincial Deputy Project Directors, CSIAP,  Mr. A. H. M. L. Abeyrathna, Commissioner General and senior officials, DAD were present in this discussion.