A radical new vision for sustainable

and innovative agriculture needed

Thursday, 1 June 2017

Human civilisation is rapidly approaching an unprecedented
threshold beyond which lies an exciting yet highly uncertain and
volatile age. Many of the assumptions that have formed the basis
of complex industrial societies are themselves falling under
increased scrutiny.

At almost every level, societies are being compelled towards

introspection, and a careful re-examination of the foundations
upon which society rests. Across the globe, individuals,
companies, communities, and entire nations are seeking out new,
more sustainable, and more effective methods of building,
powering and maintaining, their homes, offices, and cities.

However, every civilisation ultimately traces its roots back to a

single innovation: agriculture. If we are to find a way forward, it is
at this first and most basic stage of societys development that
we must first turn our collective attention to.

The problem stated in its most basic form is not

drastically different from when its dynamics were first perceived
by Thomas Robert Malthus in his famous book, Essay on the
Principle of Population (1798). The growth of a human population,
past a point, will completely outstrip that populations ability to
produce the food it needs to sustain itself. Our planet is currently
estimated to be home to 7.3 billion people, and this number is
projected to reach 8.5 billion by 2030 and 9.7 billion by 2050.

While the initial consensus was that Malthus was made redundant
by the ability to drastically increase agricultural productivity, this
only remains the case for as long as we continue to develop new
ways of increasing food production but, crucially, without
compromising the ability of our environmental systems to
rejuvenate to a sufficient degree so as to ensure its continuity.

Meanwhile, the availability of land suitable for cultivation is

expected to decline almost as fast as demand for it is expected to
rise in the coming decades, exacerbated by increasing migration
into already overcrowded cities. Demand for jobs in other sectors,
combined with the extreme prevalence of agricultural poverty
across the globe is also creating a further challenge in the form of
labour scarcity.
On the international stage, Sri Lanka has watched on the sidelines
as economies like China, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and
Indonesia underwent at times painful transitions away from
agrarian societies into fast-paced, high-tech, ostensibly modern
societies. In the wake of these developments, we have witnessed
calamitous environmental degradation and destruction, a pattern
that is characteristic of industrial revolution-style approaches to
agriculture and the natural environment.

From a domestic perspective, investments into agriculture appear

to be extremely risky endeavours, given the extreme vulnerability
the sector has to shocks from unfavourable weather conditions
and other factor imperfections. These combined with a host of
systemic challenges have resulted in a steady de-coupling of
agricultural producers from domestic and international market
forces. Instead, the sector has been forced down a path that has
led to chronic inefficiency, and an unhealthy dependence on
public-funded subsidies in order to ensure that our farmers are
able to earn the most basic of livelihoods.

Indeed, the temptation to assume that Sri Lankas challenges in

relation to the agriculture sector are uniquely insurmountable is
understandable, albeit misguided. In actual fact, the problems
that we face are strongly co-related with issues in agricultural
economies across the world. The good news is that systemic
problems are capable of resolution through a systematic approach
towards problem solving.

A bold new vision for a techno-agrarian society

For us at Hayleys Agriculture, this dilemma can be condensed as

follows: how do we adapt our agricultural systems and business
models to feed more people using less land in a manner that
ensures long-term food security and environmental sustainability
for future generations?
The crucial point that we kept in mind when answering this
question is that there is no single correct answer.

Rather, the solutions that we worked to develop were multi-

faceted, spanning all aspects of the agricultural supply and value
chains and above-all, possessed of the ability to be self-
sustaining. It was therefore imperative for us that whatever steps
we took towards this goal were carefully and comprehensively
organised along a unified master plan that clearly designates
roles for all stakeholder groups.

Our solutions were market-oriented, allowing for the cultivation of

an entrepreneurial spirit among all of our agricultural sector
stakeholders. We believe the time is now ripe for such an
approach to be expanded to the national level, through a similarly
coordinated effort between leaders in private agriculture like
Hayleys, the Government of Sri Lanka, and all agricultural sector
stakeholders.

From a structural perspective,

one of the main obstacles to commercial scale cultivation is land
fragmentation and the resultant inability to bring economies of
scale into the agriculture and plantation economies in a
meaningful way. We believe this problem has multiple solutions.
Over the recent past, the world has witnessed the emergence of
numerous exciting breakthroughs in agriculture, from indoor
farming techniques that are able to leverage refined modern high-
tech agri growing systems such as hydroponic, aquaponic and
aeroponic cultivation techniques to produce larger amounts of
crops utilising no soil whatsoever and we are proud to say that
Hayleys Agriculture has in recent years made unprecedented
progress towards the integration of these techniques at crucial
points in our agricultural production framework.

Each of these technologies holds the potential to drastically

expand our ability to grow crops using the absolute minimum in
physical space. In that regard, Hayleys Agriculture has already
commenced development of prototype aquaponic cubes for small-
scale cultivation of aquatic plants for export markets. The lessons
we learn from the development of this product could play an
important role in augmenting our nations ability to produce
agricultural products for the export market.

It is vital to note that we are not merely substituting current

agricultural models with these new innovations. Instead, we have
worked to augment our commercial scale cultivation projects
using innovations in agricultural techniques, and innovative
diversifications in terms of what we produce, all in partnership
with farmers and agricultural communities across the island.
These efforts are perhaps best demonstrated through Hayleys
Agricultures groundbreaking initiatives cultivating sea weed and
moringa in the Northern and North Central provinces.

Look to Public-Private Partnerships

In order to move in the same direction, Sri Lanka will have to look
to Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) such as the extremely
promising arrangement between Hayleys Agriculture and the Sri
Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology to develop a cutting edge slow-
release fertiliser.

Within this model, each stakeholder group must work in unison

with the other to reach common, clearly defined goals, which are
in turn developed and enforced through discussions with all
relevant stakeholders. A great deal of these actions will most
likely involve public goods and public land, hence at the outset, it
is the Government that will need to take the lead, however we in
the private sector must not be reduced to mere passive
participants in this process.

While at present we tend to look upon the problem of land

fragmentation as being an intractable issue, we believe that if the
Government is able to free up land resources for the
establishment of Free Trade Zones, hotels, mixed development
properties and a host of other purposes, then agriculture should
be no different.

In cases where the consolidation is completely out of the

question, alternatives must be sought. One possible example
would be to emulate successful models such as those
implemented during the tenure of some former governments to
establish special regions for the cultivation of certain crops like
red chilies and other crops that are widely consumed
domestically. This is also spelled out in the plans of the current
government and needs speedy and effective implementation.
Furthermore, this approach needs to be constantly adapted,
updated, and expanded to meet contemporary requirements
through the establishment of model farms in cultivating areas
that are operated as PPPs that will serve as Centres of Excellence
for a given region.

Although established through the state, the centres will be

operated by the private sector. Utilising the best agricultural
equipment, cultivation techniques, and planting material together
with carefully measured use of crop protection products, the
private sector will establish these model farms and then work to
disseminate its knowledge on best practices, together with
planting material and equipment to farmers in a given region. The
crops which these model farms produce will be regularly
evaluated in order to adjust to market demand. Buy-back
agreements between farmers and the private sector farms will
enable the private sector to develop transparent and effective
relationships with farming communities and support them to
become more closely linked into the actual needs of the domestic
market.

Utilisation of technology in the agriculture sector

The utilisation of technology in the agriculture sector must also be

expanded drastically if our vision is to be made a reality. At the
ground level, technology can play a vital catalytic role in
increasing productivity through the use of combine harvesters,
automated agricultural seed planting machines and drones to
increase crop production, monitor cultivation and use advanced
digital imaging capabilities to carry out soil-mapping. Such
practices will enable farmers to more accurately determine the
most productive extents of land available for cultivation. At a
higher level, we must also look to leverage technology to address
other long-standing systematic challenges in the agricultural
sector.

These include weather sensing, to track market demand and the

utilisation of predictive analytics and networked communication
technology to instantly inform farmers of what crops are in
demand, and which of those would be most suitable for
cultivation in given region.

Storage and processing is yet another aspect of the agricultural

value chain that needs to be developed on an urgent basis.
Through the establishment of PPPs, stakeholders can work
together to establish advanced storage facilities that are capable
of preserving the integrity of produce for a much longer period,
thus drastically cutting down on agricultural waste which currently
pervades the entire sector, resulting in extreme supply and price
distortions.

Similarly, Sri Lankan corporates must also work to develop

complete vertical integration of the agricultural value chain. If we
are to succeed, we must ultimately seek that out that success in
export markets and in order to do so, we must create home-grown
food brands that are capable of extensive value addition.

Sri Lanka is faced with unique challenges across its entire

economy, and of course in its agriculture sector. The solution to
these problems will not be found by simply ignoring them and
adopting an ad-hoc, come what may attitude.

If all stakeholder groups are able to formulate a unified vision for

the sector and take decisive, systematic steps to achieve this
vision, then I am confident that we as a nation will be able to
discover an entirely new paradigm in sustainable, technology-
enabled, commercial agriculture, and in so doing, Sri Lanka will
once again be able to recapture its position on the global stage as
a land of serendipitous bounty.

(The writer is Managing Director, Hayleys Agriculture Holdings

Ltd. Zaheed also serves as Chairman of the National Agribusiness
Council, which stands as the apex body for 23 national
associations covering all spheres of agribusiness in the country,
and is an affiliate body of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.)
Posted by Thavam