Images of the Farmer Filed School captured by a Drone

Sri Lanka’s first-ever Climate Smart Agriculture School opens at Thirappaney

The Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) has built a first-ever Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) School called Farm Field School (FFS) to promote CSA practices in Sri Lanka.  The FFS is used to train farmers and give hands-on experience on Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices to address the challenges of building strategies for climate change mitigation, adaptation, and food security (crop productivity),  which are closely related to agriculture and minimize their potential negative impacts and technologies to the beneficiary farmers of hot spot areas in 11 districts of six provinces such as North Western, North Central, Northern, Eastern, Uva and Southern Provinces where the CSIAP is being implemented. This fully pledged farm field school is located at Wagayakulama village of Thirappane, located approximately 30 km South of Anuradhapura town in the North Central Province.

The FFS was declared open by the Ministry of is declared open by Mr. Mahinda Amaraweera, Minister of Agriculture, Wildlife and Forest Resources Conservation on 04^th  at Thirappaney.  The main objective of FFS is to enhance the capacities of support organization officials and farmer leaders to promote CSA technologies and practices in their villages. Subsequently, the project aims to impart their knowledge and skills on CSA practices to village-level potential farmers to respond to the adverse climate impacts in their villages. In addition, the project mobilizes trained leader farmers to organize training activities and disseminate knowledge on CSA practices among peer groups.

Renowned Sri Lankan Film Director/Maker late Mr. Dharmasena Pathiraja’s son Dr. Milinda Pathiraja, Senior lecturer in Architecture at the University of Moratuwa, who took responsibility of the architectural design of the FFS has provided service with his team at Robust Architecture Workshop free of charge. Dr. Pathiraja was honoured with a Token of Appreciation for his contribution to the FFS at this ceremony. 

The FFS project costs around Rs 40Mn and the Ministry of Agriculture is the main agency responsible for executing the project.  The CSA is a new concept to the Sri Lankan farming society, even though the farmers apply some traditional CSA practices without a real scientific background. In this scenario, the project wishes to increase and build the capacities of farmers for the use of CSA technologies to combat the climate change impact. The project aims to build a village-level resource person pool with the competencies of CSA technologies & practices from support organization officials and selected leader farmers through the newly established FFS. 

All training programs are conducted with the collaboration of the Extension division of the Department of Agriculture (DOA), Peradeniya, including the allocation of potential resource persons for training sessions. The CSIAP is promoting various CSA practices via FFS  to increase crop productivity and ensure the food security of the project beneficiaries with a contribution to climate change adaptation and mitigation as follows.

1.     Climate-smart Home Garden Development
2.    Crops Diversification
3.    Implementation of Climate Smart Agronomic Interventions
4.    Promote Micro Irrigation
5.     Climate Smart Seeds Production
6.    Interseason Cultivation to increase cropping intensity

Each batch consists of 25 participants, including leader farmers and technical officials from a support organization. The participants are identified by the provincial Deputy Project Director (DPD) offices to represent all Agrarian Service center (ASCs) divisions and make necessary arrangements to transport them to FFS premises on time.

All sessions are to be organized as residential (03 days) intensive, multi-session and multi-activity group learning sessions that use lecturing, group discussions, demonstrations of practical activities, videos, and other audio-visual resources as well as entertainment activities (drams and role play), etc. 

The technology transfer plan for the FFS is developed by 07 modules. Each module consists of thematic areas to be covered and lessons/topics to be discussed and learning objectives to transfer the CSA technologies to the participants. These modules define how the knowledge acquired from training will be used for CSIAP interventions, how knowledge will be disseminated among fellow members, what roles to be played in Farmer Organizations (FOs), Producer Societies (PSs), and Cascade Management Committees (CMCs), and post-evaluation of the training.

The CSIAP is originally planning to carry out 74 training sessions for leader farmers and technical officers during the project period and build capacities of 1850 participants on CSA technologies and practices. Hence, the expected outcome is to establish a CSA knowledge hub within the village and disseminate CSA technologies among beneficiaries residing in the hotspot areas covering all 47 ASC divisions.  Subsequently, CSIAP is planning to disseminate the CSA technology and practices to the whole farming communities, those vulnerable to climate change impact in the country, with the intervention of the Department of Agriculture (DOA) officials.

The FFS is one of the most important assets for the farming community in Sri Lanka. Hence, ensuring its sustainability is important. As we mentioned earlier, all capacity-building programs will be conducted with the assistance of extension divisions of the Department of Agriculture (DOA) and it leads to creating a competent resource person pool in the Department of Agriculture (DOA) on Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) technologies and practices. Also, the training needs on CSA technologies will be increased due to the prevailing scenario. Therefore the project aims to enter into an agreement with the Department of Agriculture (DOA) and to hand over this program, including all assets, to ensure sustainable functions of the center for the betterment of the vulnerable farming communities to build their resilience against the climate change impacts.

Parliamentarian Mr. Duminda Dissanayake, Mr. Gunadasa Samarasinghe, Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Senior Officials of the Ministry of Agriculture, Provincial Department of Agriculture, Department of Agrarian Development, Field Crop Research & Development Institute, officials related to agriculture field, Eng. R.M.B. Rajakaruna, Project Director, Provincial Deputy Project Directors, Specialists and Officers of the CSIAP attended this event.

The CSIAP could contribute to preserving foreign currency - Minister of Agriculture

Hon. Mahinda Amaraweera, Minister of Agriculture, Wildlife & Forest Resources Conservation assured that Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) could contribute to  preserving Sri Lanka’s foreign currency reserves by increasing local production in the country at  a special Progress Review  Meeting held at the Ministry this morning (21st). The minister advised continuing the ongoing programmes in a very systematic manner to increase productivity furthermore.  It is important to maintain the sustainability of the activities, which are being conducted,
after the project period, the Minister further added. Eng. Rx.M.B. Rajakaruna, Project Director, CSIAP presented the current progress of the CSIAP and future activities.

Mr. Gunadasa Samarasinghe, Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Senior Officials of the Ministry and Subject Specialists of the CSIAP attended this meeting. 

Photograph by Pathum Rasanjana, Ministry of Agriculture

Around 700 Farmers in Puthukudiyiruppu Receive Rs. 6.65M Worth of Agro-Inputs

The Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) continues to support farmers by providing timely agricultural inputs to ensure uninterrupted cultivation in project-implemented areas. Under this initiative, approximately 700 farmers representing producer societies in Mallikativu, Manakandal, and Puthukudiyiruppu East recently received agricultural inputs valued at Rs. 6.65 million. 

Wide Range of Inputs Distributed
A wide range of inputs was distributed among beneficiary farmers, including 13 varieties of vegetable seeds, turmeric and ginger rhizomes, 50 grow bags, fruit and multipurpose plants such as guava, lime, murunga, papaw, and passion fruit, as well as manioc and sweet potato cuttings. These inputs aim to enhance crop diversity, productivity, and household nutrition.

 World Bank Support to Farming Communities
The distribution event was attended by a World Bank mission led by Mr. Sheu Salau, Co–Task Team Leader (TTL) and Mission Leader of the CSIAP, who personally handed over the inputs to farmers along with CSIAP staff. Addressing the gathering, Mr. Salau emphasized the World Bank’s continued commitment to improving agricultural productivity and raising the living standards of farming communities.

Participation of Key Stakeholders
The event was attended by Consultant Mr. S. Manoharan, Dr. Athula Senarathne, Senior Agriculture Specialist of the World Bank, Mr. George Babu, Provincial Deputy Project Director (Northern Province), as well as subject specialists and officers of the CSIAP, highlighting strong collaboration among stakeholders.

 Strengthening Climate-Smart Agriculture
Through such interventions, CSIAP aims to strengthen climate-resilient agricultural practices, support smallholder farmers, and ensure sustainable food production in vulnerable regions of the Northern Province

Story by R. Sanjeepan (Institutional Development & Capacity Building Specialist), NP, CSIAP

The World Bank opens a Sales Center and Training Hall at Puthukudiyiruppu, NP

The Sales Centre & Training Hall built at the Agrarian Service Center in Puthukudiyiruppu, Mullaitivu under the modernization of Agrarian Service Centers was inaugurated by the World Bank recently. The World Bank Delegations led by Mr.  Sheu Salau, CO- Task Team Leader (TTL) of the CSIAP & Mission Leader along with Consultant Mr. S. Manoharan ceremonially opened the new Center and Hall by unveiling the plague, and the Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) spent Rs 10m to modernize the Puthukudiyiruppu Agrarian Service Center. Dr. Athula Senarathne, Senior Agriculture Specialist of the World Bank, Mr. George Babu, Provincial Deputy Project Director (Northern Province) Subject Specialists and Officers of the CSIAP were on this attended this occasion.

Story by R. Sanjeepan (Institutional Development & Capacity Building Specialist), NP, CSIAP

The World Bank oversees Home Garden, Crop Clinic and Compost Production in NP

The World Bank Team arrived in Koolamurippu village,  Mullaitivu to supervise Climate Smart Nutritional Sensitive Home Garden (CSNSHG), Crop Clink and Compost Production Programmes conducted by the Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) recently. The World Bank Officials met members of a Producer Society in the village to find CSISP’s contribution to improving productivity and livelihoods. Farmers in the village highly appreciated the support provided by the CSIAP to improve productivity.

The World Bank Delegations led by Mr.  Sheu Salau, CO- Task Team Leader (TTL) of the CSIAP & Mission Leader along with Consultant Mr. S. Manoharan and Dr. Athula Senarathne, Senior Agriculture Specialist, Mr. George Babu, Provincial Deputy Project Director (Northern Province) Subject Specialists and Officers of the CSIAP were on this tour.

Story by R. Sanjeepan (Institutional Development & Capacity Building Specialist), NP, CSIAP 

The CSIAP Launches FMIS Training Workshop for Finance and Accounts Staff

The Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) commenced a two-day residential workshop at the Project Management Unit (PMU) this morning (09th) to train finance and accounts staff attached to the Provincial Deputy Project Directors’ offices and the PMU on the use of the Financial Management Information System (FMIS).

Transition to Digital Financial Management
From December 01 onwards, all finance and accounts activities of CSIAP will be managed through the FMIS. The introduction of this system marks a significant step toward improving efficiency, accuracy, transparency, and accountability in the project’s financial management processes.

FMIS Developed for CSIAP and Hands-On Training by System Developers
The Financial Management Information System has been specifically designed for CSIAP by Soft Vision Technologies (Pvt) Ltd to meet the project’s operational and reporting requirements.

Mr. T. T. Dhayalan, System Analyst and Consultant from Soft Vision Technologies (Pvt) Ltd, along with his technical team, is conducting the training sessions. Participants are being provided with hands-on experience to familiarize themselves with the system’s functions and practical application in day-to-day financial operations.

Photograph by Gayani Dassanayake, PMU-CSIAP