Daily Lankadeepa E-Paper

Expert team from Switzerland to study Sri Lanka’s agriculture ecosystem arrives today

A renowned team of experts from Switzerland will arrive today ( 01st August) to study the country’s agriculture ecosystem. During the 10-day visit, they will meet with key industry stakeholders, visit various sites and facilities, and provide comprehensive training in composting and organic farming.

This entire initiative is by A. Baur & Co. ( Pvt.) Ltd ( Baurs), a leading diversified business group and a name synonymous with pioneering scientific manuring in Sri Lanka, together in partnership with two of the world’s leading institutions in organic agriculture, namely Research Institute of Organic Agriculture ( FiBL) and School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences ( HAFL) of Bern University of Applied Sciences, both based in Switzerland, a country that has the 6th highest penetration of organic farming in the world, with 16.5% of agriculture land being organic farmland.

The team will meet with most senior members of the Ministry of Agriculture and related State Ministries, Department of Agriculture, Centre of Excellence for Organic Agriculture (CEOA), National Fertilizer Secretariat, Sri Lanka Council for Agricultural Research Policy (SLCARP), Faculty of Agriculture at University of Peradeniya, State Ministry of Skills Development, Vocational Education, Research & Innovation, Coconut Research Institute (CRI), Sri Lanka Tea Board, and Tea Research Institute (TRI).

They will visit and observe conventional and organic farmers in Kalpitiya, Thamuththegama, We li weriya,R ada wan a, Beliholoya, and Nuwara Eliya. And visit markets, poultry farm, dairy farm, tea factory, tea estate, garbage collection centres including how garbage is collected from hotels to process organic manure.

Further, they will also conduct two training sessions. The expert team includes Prof. Dr. Christoph Studer, professor of natural resources management at HAFL and Dr. Gurbir S Bhullar, senior scientist in tropical agroecosystems at HAFL, Paul van den Berge, senior consultant at FiBL, and Dr. Jacques G Fuchs, senior scientist in plant pathology and soil quality at FiBL.

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2021-08-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-08-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://dailylankadeepa.pressreader.com/article/282707640103119

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