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ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACT OF A FARMING SYSTEMS-BASED
TECHNOLOGY SITE IN SRI LANKA
N. F. C. Ranaweera, P. A. Samaratun 3, J. M. K. P. Jayasinghe,
and G. K. Renuka B
Sri Lanka has been actively involved in the development of new
technologies within the perspective of farming systems over the last 15
yr. Increasingly, questions have been asked as to the impact of such
technologies to the farming community. Previous impact studies
concentrated primarily on the adoption levels of the technologies and
less in terms of actual impact. This study critically examines the
impact of a new technology at a particular site in Sri Lanka. Using
production function techn~ques, the study concludes that there were
structural changes in the production process and in the personal
incomes of farmers. However, there were no significant changes
observed in capital accumulation, nutritional status, and expenditure
patterns between the adopters and nonadopters of the new
technology.
Agriculture in Sri Lanka faces problems of increased consumer demand for basic
foods, high unemployn~ent in the rural sector, and diminished land resources.
Strategies were developed to address these problems by increasing the intensity of
cultivation and diversifying the use of limited farm resources. Within this
framework, a strategy for crop diversification combined with intensification of
resource use was considered the key to stronger agricultural growth.
FARMING SYSTEMS RESEARCH IN SRI LANKA
These problems in agriculture required the developnlent of suitable component
technologies (e.g., varieties with appropriate duration, crop combinations, and crop
sequences) that were not only technically feasible but socially acceptable and
econon~ically tenable. Rice and other field crops (OFC) are produced in Sri Lanka
on small-scale family farms on which interactions between farm production, off-farm
and nonfarm activities, and household consumption are highly significant. Initial
studies began in 1976 at Walagambahuwa (a minor tank-based cropping system in
the low-country dry zone) and Katupotha (in the low-country intermediate zone).
Subsequently, the Department of Agricult~lre commenced farming systems research
(FSR) programs in other locations under the purview of six regional agricultural
research stations (Table 1). Details of these findings are described by Fernando
(1979), Upasena (19Sla,b), and Sikurajapathy (1986).
'~ivision of Agricultural Economics and Planning, Department of Agriculture,
Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.