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A calamity is an opportunity, says M.S. Swaminathan

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Tuesday urged M.S. Swaminathan, father of the Indian Green Revolution, to help the nation finalise a road map for early rehabilitation and resettlement of the war displaced in the agriculture and fisheries sectors.

In the course of a meeting at his office, Mr. Rajapaksa told Prof. Swaminathan the need of the hour was to give hope to the people who had suffered immensely under the “tyranny” of the LTTE and that his government was committed to doing all it could towards early resettlement of displaced people.

Mr. Rajapaksa told Prof. Swaminathan that recovery of land mines and ensuring human safety was the first priority of his government.

“Over 80 per cent of the population in the Northern Province covering Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullathivu, Vavuniya and Mannar depend upon agriculture and allied occupations for their livelihood and revival and revitalisation of agriculture is the need of the hour,” said Mr. Rajapaksa. He told Prof. Swaminathan the government had already prepared a strategy and requested him to review it.

Prof. Swaminathan told the President that every calamity also presented an opportunity. “A new chapter in the agriculture of the Northern Province can be opened up by introducing farmers to the use of soil health cards and more income per drop of water techniques. Post harvest processing and value addition are also essential, particularly for increasing earning opportunities for women,” the eminent scientist told Mr. Rajapaksa.

The President said special attention needed to be paid to women in agriculture and that the Bank of Ceylon would make available credit for both on-farm and off-farm livelihood opportunities. “India’s assistance in strengthening agricultural research and training will be timely but there is need to move fast. Government machinery, whether in Sri Lanka or India, tends to move slowly,” he told Prof. Swaminathan.

It was agreed that for strengthening participatory research and education for farmers, an appropriate existing centre in Vavuniya could be chosen and developed with mobile soil-testing vans, farm machinery and other essential equipment to revitalise the agriculture economy.

On fisheries, the view was that it would be useful to develop one of the existing centres into a “Fish for all” training centre based on the model set up at Poonpahar by the M.S. Swaminathan Foundation.

Owing to a huge subsidy (96 per cent), chemical fertilizers are displacing compost and other organic manures. In this context, Mr. Rajapaksa welcomed the scientist’s suggestion of an integrated supply system.

The President expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Government of India for the support being extended for speedy rehabilitation of the war displaced. Prof. Swaminathan also met Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremenayake.

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