LIRNEasia » agricultural value chain

LIRNEasia agriculture value chain research in media

Rohan Samarajiva — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 10:39:25 +0000

The Sunday Observer reported on the dissemination workshop conducted on 13 October 2011:

Kapugama said that Sri Lanka should promote high density planting and intensive management to boost pineapple cultivation in the country.

Pineapple cultivators in Sri Lanka face many challenges due to the scarcity of land, healthy suckers and the absence of high yielding cultivation methods. The high cost of fertiliser is a major factor that affects the cost of production.

Kapugama said that due to the problems faced by pineapple cultivators exporters and pineapple-based product manufacturers are adversely affected. “There should be a proper mechanism to obtain information on pineapple sucker providers based on their reputation”, Kapugama said.

She said that it is essential to promote good practices in pineapple cultivation and added that a market should be created for the organic cultivation of pineapple.

Value chain research results shared with Vegetable & Fruit Producers, Processor & Exporters Association

Rohan Samarajiva — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 05:04:55 +0000

Reducing the quality penalty suffered by smallholder growers of fruits and vegetables was a main theme at the dissemination seminar conducted by LIRNEasia in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Vegetable and Fruit Producers, Processors and Exporters Association. The discussion also addressed the value of smallholders organizing themselves into cooperative associations somewhat like what had been done in Ghana with Farmapine. The importance of knowledge was recognized by all. Sujata Gamage’s presentation on knowledge networks in solid-waste management pointed to the need to shift from outmoded models that placed universities as the sole sources of new knowledge, to new thinking that places suppliers, buyers and even competitors as key sources of knowledge.

The presentations by Rohan Samarajiva, Sriganesh Lokanathan, Nilusha Kapugama, Harsha de Silva and Sujata Gamage are given below, along with the policy brief on recommendations to improve the performance of the Sri Lanka pineapple value chain in Sinhala and English.

For the presentation done by Rohan Samarajiva, click here.

For the presentation done by Sriganesh Lokanthan, click here.

For the presentations done by Nilusha Kapugama, click here and here.

For the presentation done by Harsha de Silva, click here.

For the presentation done by Sujata Gamage, click here.

For the policy brief in English, click here.

For the policy brief in Sinhala, click here.

Pictures from the event available HERE.

Workshop on Transaction Costs and Traceability: Potential for ICTs in the Agricultural Value Chain

Shamistra Soysa — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 10:43:23 +0000

21 – 23 February 2008 at Kandalama Hotel, Kandalama, Sri Lanka

LIRNEasia hosted a Workshop to discuss the policy level implications and business level possibilities of using ICTs to reduce transaction costs in the agricultural value chain as well as to improve traceability and enhance quality of products sold. The Workshop brought together key stakeholders consisting of policy makers, private and public sector participants and researchers, both in agriculture and ICT. It was based on the pilot projects conducted by LIRNEasia in 2007, which was discussed in detail at the Workshop.

All presentations made at the Workshop can be found below:
Traceability: International Perspective – Visoot Phongsathorn

Linking Sri Lankan farmers to global markets – Dr. Harsha de Silva

Traceability in agricultural markets – Shamistra Soysa

Benefits of ICT applications to farmers with emphasis on transaction costs: experiences from India – Prof. Subhash Bhatnagar

Cost of information in agriculture markets – Dimuthu Ratnadiwakara

Using ICTs to create efficient agricultural markets – Dr. Harsha de Silva