Crop Diversification in the Asia-Pacific region - United Nations in ...

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In addition to the above scenario, unavailability of good quality seed in time (e.g.:onion) also discourages some farmers from the cultivation of non-rice crops.5.1.4 Social ConstraintsTraditionally, Sri Lankan farmers prefer rice cultivation for cultural reasons and theyare also highly knowledgeable in rice cultivation but have little knowledge of upland cropcultivation. Hence, most of the farmers are reluctant to shift from rice to other alternativecrops. Paddy on the other hand is an easy crop to cultivate for them and hence they findsufficient time to go for off-farm employment. However, with non-rice crops farmers cannotlook for off-farm income though the returns are comparatively high. The absence ofknowledge and the need for constant attention in non-rice crops restrict the old generation offarmers to move away from rice and it is the knowledge seeking youth who are mostlyinterested in cultivating non-rice crops. The majority of the youth are, however, leaving thefarm to seek employment in other sectors. Land ownership is another obstacle in promotingnon-rice crop cultivation in Sri Lanka. Land ownership is not always with the farmer andtherefore farmers have no choice for crops as the decisions lie with the land owner. Thissituation was created as there was no way of assuring a guaranteed income from the non-ricecrops. In addition, the tenancy for rice lands is legally protected in Sri Lanka.5.1.5 Management ConstraintsIrrigation schemes designed after the 1960’s have facilities for irrigation managementin crop diversification. However, irrigation schemes that have been implemented prior tothis period were designed only for continuous water supply. Hence, rotational irrigation, thatis a must in non-rice cultivation, is difficult to practice in old irrigation projects.Heavy rains that occur soon after irrigation or coincide with irrigation create excesswater conditions which are detrimental to upland crops. Present irrigation systems do notenjoy the ease of immediate water regulatory facilities between head works and theperipheral distributaries. Therefore, enhancement of water regulatory facilities is alsoneeded for better crop diversification in the irrigation schemes.5.2 Globalization and New Technologies in Crop DiversificationGenerally, the cost of cultivation of all the crops is relatively high in Sri Lanka and inaddition, the yields are comparatively low in relation to the subtropical and temperatecountries. This could mainly be attributed to the climatic differences among the tropics,subtropics and temperate countries. Due to low yield and high cost of cultivation the pricesof agricultural commodities are relatively high. Therefore, options are very much limited forexporting vegetables, pulses or grains. In contrast, importation is continuously taking placeas the import restrictions have been relaxed. This situation adversely affects localagricultural production and hampers the crop diversification effort.The production of condiments such as pepper, cinnamon, cloves and cardamoms hascomparative advantages. But expansion of those crops to non-traditional areas, where suchcultivation is not being practiced, is very much limited as these require special climaticconditions. Introduction of varieties of condiments that perform well within a large range ofclimatic conditions is a challenge for the researchers in their respective fields. In thissituation, biotechnology can be used for developing new varieties and propagation125
techniques such as tissue culture can be used more effectively for the expansion of new cropvarieties.With the open market system, the involvement of government in planning is limitedand furthermore, the decisions are now being made by agricultural entrepreneurs. Hence,before entering into any agricultural enterprise, farmers are required to decide on the crops,type of technology etc., and they also need to forecast and anticipate the fluctuations inprices, marketability of the produce, extent of cultivation and the expected total production toavoid future gluts and major price slumps. Similarly, information on the land, soil type, cropsuitability etc., should also be useful for the future agriculture entrepreneur. There is a needto have an institution to provide such information to support the decision making of theagriculture producer as well as the traders. In this system both farmer and traders should beable to collect information conveniently.5.3 Institutional and Infra-structural Development Towards Crop Diversification5.3.1 Institutional DevelopmentFarmer organizations at different levels of the irrigation schemes are required foreffective crop diversification programmes. Such organizations facilitate effective irrigationmanagement, supply of inputs and organizing marketing facilities. This requirement iseffectively met in almost all irrigation schemes in the island and the Irrigation ManagementDivision attached to the Irrigation Department is responsible for the activity.There is a fairly effective agriculture extension network present in the country. It ispresently handled by the Department of Agriculture at both provincial and inter-provinciallevel and by the Mahaweli Economic Agency in the major irrigation schemes. In addition,there are several non-governmental organizations that take certain extension messages to alimited section of the farmers. However, the extension service suffers from lack of sufficientstaff at village level to take the extension messages across to the farming community.Therefore, an increase in strength of extension agents at village level is needed to improvethe efficiency of the extension service.The Department of Agrarian Services mainly handles the minor irrigation schemesand is also responsible for supplying inputs and purchasing certain farm produce to a limitedextent.5.3.2 Infra-structural DevelopmentModern irrigation schemes designed after the 1960’s were completed with thefollowing basic facilities:- Canal system with high canal capacity.- Gates and regulators for efficient irrigation control.- Access roads to each and every allotment.However, the experiences in the last decade show that food and fruit processingfactories at regional level are necessary to deal with the problem of seasonal excessproduction of crops to ensure good market prices for agriculture produce, thus facilitating thediversification process.126
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RAP PUBLICATION: 2001/03CROP DIVERS
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CROP DIVERSIFICATION IN THEASIA-PAC
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13. INTENSIFICATION OF CROP DIVERSI
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INTRODUCTORY REMARKSMinas K. Papade
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New opportunities that would benefi
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CROP DIVERSIFICATION IN BANGLADESHM
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(CDP) during 1990/95 in 125 Thanas
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SlName of Crops1 Aus:HYVLocalTable
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Table 4. Trade of Crops/products (I
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through development projects implem
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y the terminal year of the Fifth Pl
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cropping. This has only been possib
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process and export those labour int
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g) restoration/improvement of soil
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8. RECOMMENDATIONSConsidering the i
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enthusiasm of the farmers in their
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3.3 The Formation and Development o
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carried out for years, guarantees t
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environment protection. Special att
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2. CROP PRODUCTION AND ECONOMICS SC
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What is most notable is the change
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8.36 m/ha involved in the area shif
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fact that the area shares of the do
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country. Therefore, a judicious use
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5.3 Emerging Technology and Crop Di
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7. CONCLUSIONSIndia, being a vast c
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Table 3. All India: Temporal Change
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Table 5. All India: Temporal Change
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CROP DIVERSIFICATION IN JAPANMasa I
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production, these ratios were deter
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soybean using paddy fields should c
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food industry have sharply increase
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7. CONCLUSIONSThe Japanese socio-ec
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Figure 2. Change of Rice Productivi
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Figure 4. Aid Provided by Major Cou
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The Natural Rubber (NR) industry co
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About 78 percent of the rubber grow
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should be attractive to justify the
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REFERENCESAnon. 1990. Proceedings o
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Table 3. Agriculture Land Use in Sa
Page 82 and 83: Table 7. Paddy Production, 1985-199
Page 84 and 85: Table 10. Imports and Exports of Fr
Page 86 and 87: Table 14. Exports and Imports of Pr
Page 88 and 89: CROP DIVERSIFICATION IN NEPALK. C.
Page 90 and 91: We know hill farmers face many prob
Page 92 and 93: Table 2. Growth of Agricultural Com
Page 94 and 95: 3. PATTERN OF CROP DIVERSIFICATIONN
Page 96 and 97: With regard to success stories of c
Page 98 and 99: 5. CHALLENGES, OPPORTUNITIES AND PR
Page 100 and 101: It recognizes the need for a differ
Page 102 and 103: CROP DIVERSIFICATION IN THE PHILIPP
Page 104 and 105: 2.3 Yield Per Hectare of Agricultur
Page 106 and 107: In coconut, diversification means t
Page 108 and 109: were used in the preparation of the
Page 110 and 111: There are a variety of factors that
Page 112 and 113: Table 1. Production Area of Commerc
Page 114 and 115: Table 3. Yield (tonnes) Per Hectare
Page 116 and 117: Table 5. Selected Macroeconomic and
Page 118 and 119: Table 7. Dominant Rice Cropping Pat
Page 120 and 121: 1.2 Soils in the Crop Diversificati
Page 122 and 123: Table 1. Major Crops, Their Extents
Page 124 and 125: drained and rice on poorly drained
Page 126 and 127: Figure 3. Schematic Representation
Page 128 and 129: The potato production in the up cou
Page 130 and 131: Table 6 clearly shows that there is
Page 134 and 135: 6. GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND STRATEGI
Page 136 and 137: Panabokke, C.R. 1996. Soils and agr
Page 138 and 139: y promoting diversified crops inste
Page 140 and 141: Over the past few years, agricultur
Page 142 and 143: Land TenureMore than half of the Th
Page 144 and 145: The New theory is a novel approach
Page 146 and 147: Mushrooms: nang-fah mushroom (Pleur
Page 148 and 149: - Farmers can sell their rice at a
Page 150 and 151: In order to maintain the growth rat
Page 152 and 153: REFERENCESAthipanan, Withaya. 1995.
Page 154 and 155: CROP DIVERSIFICATION IN VIET NAMNgu
Page 156 and 157: 3. PATTERNS OF CROP DIVERSIFICATION
Page 158 and 159: the contour with mulching using ric
Page 160 and 161: development of new crop varieties a
Page 162 and 163: • Cultivated and growing area und
Page 164 and 165: other hand, the size of an average
Page 166 and 167: 4.1 Crop NutritionA major contribut
Page 168 and 169: increased from 130 million ha to 15
Page 170 and 171: in tobacco nurseries. These also he
Page 172 and 173: past experience. A sustainable prog
Page 174 and 175: diversification, taking into accoun
Page 176 and 177: The major outputs are:- Integration
Page 178 and 179: • Database and information materi
Page 180 and 181: • Business plans have been formul
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minimize such losses. The developme
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LIST OF PARTICIPANTSBANGLADESHM. En
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SRI LANKAH.P.M. GunasenaDirectorPos
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FAOR.B. SinghAssistant Director-Gen
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