The first ever Climate Smart Farmer Training School in South Asia established at Thirappane will prepare Sri Lankan farmers for climate change, said Mr. Martin Raiser, World Bank Vice President for South Asia

The first ever Climate Smart Farmer Training School in South Asia established at Thirappane will prepare Sri Lankan farmers for climate change, said Mr. Martin Raiser, World Bank Vice President for South Asia during a visit to the Farmer Training School (FTS) at Thirappane, Anuradhapura recently.

“What the farmers learn here is how to conserve water and how to use new planting techniques. I was told, with these techniques they can increase income by 30% and reduce the water that they need to irrigate by more than half,” Mr. Raiser added.

The World Bank’s Vice President visited the FTS in the company of Mr. Faris H. Hadad-Zervos, Country Director of the World Bank for Nepal, Maldives and Sri Lanka, Ms. Chiyo Kanda, Country Manager of the World Bank for Maldives and Sri Lanka and other World Bank officials.

The FTS, built at a cost of Rs. 40 million by the World Bank-funded Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) and implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture, has been designed to build the capacity of project beneficiaries for the use of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) technologies and combat the adverse impacts of climate change. Mr. Faris H. Hadad-Zervos and Ms. Chiyo Kanda laid foundation stones for the FTS on 22 December 2021, and the school was declared open by Hon. Mahinda Amaraweera, the Minister of Agriculture on 4 December 2022.

Expressing his views, Mr. Raiser said, “The Farmer Training School at Thirappane is a great project. Very happy to see the first Climate Smart Farmer Training School in South Asia and how Sri Lankan farmers are being prepared for climate change.”

When inquired about advancing FTS up to international standards, Mr Raiser responded, “There is a lot of international learning that is possible. Some techniques, such as mulching and drip irrigation I see here, have been used in other countries like China. However, lot of the knowledge needs to be local – you need to understand the local crops and the local soil. Sri Lanka has the capacity, with some international support, to develop a top-class system yourselves.”

“We also have internationally renowned Agriculture Experts who can come here and talk to local scientists to develop the right solutions together,” added Mr. Raiser.

A part of the CSIAP project is focusing on the rehabilitation of local irrigation systems. This system retains rainwater and then transmit it along irrigation channels onto the command area of the CSIAP. Several of Sri Lanka’s irrigation channels, draining systems and tanks are currently dilapidated and silted up. This means they can store less water and the soil is salinized; thus, more land erodes into tanks. This reduces the effectiveness of the agriculture systems in Sri Lanka. The goal of CSIAP is to rehabilitate local irrigation systems and improve farmer knowledge to ensure Sri Lanka’s future in climate-smart agriculture and help generate higher incomes for farmers.

“My message to Sri Lankan farmers is to continue to study and learn. Do not just do everything that you have done. Find a better way to do it. Talk to each other, communicate, learn from others, and share experiences. That’s why a school like this is here.”

The Vice President, Country Director, Country Manger and Secretery of the ministry awarded certificates to Farmer Leaders from Gomarankadawara Agrerian Service Center Division in Eastern Province of the 5th group who undertook a 3-day Residential Training Programme at the FTS. To mark this occasion, Mr. Raiser received a token of appreciation prepared by the CSIAP from Mr. Gunadasa Samarasinghe, Secretary of Agriculture at the event.

Eng. R.M.B. Rajakaruna, Project Director, Climate Smart Irrigation Agriculture Project presented a report on the current progress of the project. Some of the farmers who participated in the training programme expressed their views regarding the benefits they received due to the project.

Mr. Vijaya Wanasinghe, Provincial Secretary of Agriculture, North Central Province, Ms. K.N.C Gunawardhana, Director, Dr. Wasantha Mallawaarachchi- Principle Scientist, Dr. M.S. Nijamudeen, Principle Scientist, Field crop & Research Development Institute, Mahailuppallama, Ms. Sandya N.G Abeysekara, Additional District Secretary, North Central Province, representatives of implementing agencies, farmers and CSIAP staff attended in this event.