6th Symposium on Plantation Crop Research
5th Symposium on Plantation Crop Research (2014)
Theme: Towards a Green Plantation Economy
Theme: Towards a Green Plantation Economy
The Plantation Crop Research Symposium (PCRS) was initiated as an attempt to provide a common forum for the scientists working in plantation crops research institutions to present and deliberate their research findings under a specific thematic area. The first symposium was held in 2004 under the theme “Current trends and future challenges of the plantation industry”, and it has been continued as a biennial event since then. The scientists, academics, experts, stakeholders, policy makers and administrators of each sector have been taken part actively in these symposia and the benefits gained have been significant for the advancement of the plantation industry. The fifth symposium on Plantation Crop Research was thus emerged as a joint effort of the Sugarcane Research Institute (SRI), Coconut Research Institute (CRI), Rubber Research Institute (RRI) and Tea Research Institute (TRI). It was organised under the theme “Towards a green plantation economy” to create a platform for scientists, industrialists, investors, plantation managers, academics and policy makers to share the knowledge and experience to work together and towards development of plantation economy in the country emphasising the protection of crop production and processing environments.
Tea, rubber, coconut and sugarcane crops occupy nearly 760,000 ha, approximately covering 12% of the total land area in the country. With the expansion of rubber and sugarcane into non-traditional areas, as has been recognised now, the land extent coming under plantation crop sector will increase to 890,000 hectares covering 14 % of the total land area. Comparatively low productivity levels in planation crops appears to be the major constrain in meeting the global competitiveness while expanding this sector in the country. Nevertheless, emerging environmental issues with changing global climatic conditions demand the necessity of sustainable utilisation of available resources for increasing crop production, today than ever before. This proceeding contains the investigations carried out in the four plantation crop research institutions and deliberated in the fifth PCRS focusing on greener plantation economy.
Total of 44 research papers from four crop research institutions numbering 12 from SRI, 07 from CRI, 10 from RRI and 15 from TRI under five sub thematic areas;, Crop Improvement, Crop and Resource Management, Environment, Climate and Soil, Process, Product and Machinery Development, Socio-economic and Technology Dissemination that are presented in five technical sessions during the two days are compiled in this document. It covers a wide range of subject areas, and hence the information contained in this document would be a valuable source of reference for various categories of persons who are interested in plantation crop sector. At the same time, suggestions, comments and conclusions come out at the end would give recommendations and directions to focus future plantation crop research for the betterment of the country and the people engaged in the industry.
We sincerely wish that this effort of the four plantation crop research institutions would facilitate towards developing a new era in the plantation sector with significant increase in productivity to face the challenge of global competitiveness while maintaining environmental sustainability.
Date: 15 October 2014
Venue: BMICH, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Dr. W. R. G. Witharama, Dr. (Mrs.) L. C. P. Fernando, Dr. V. H. L. Rodrigo and Dr. L. S. K. Hettiarachchi
Members of the Symposium Coordinating Committee Fifth Symposium on Plantation Crop Research
4th Symposium on Plantation Crop Research (2012)
Theme: Technological Innovations for Sustainable Plantation Economy
The Symposium on Plantation Crop Research (SPCR) is a biennial event jointly organized by the Tea, Rubber, Coconut and Sugarcane Research Institutes of Sri Lanka. The primary objective of the symposium is to disseminate scientific and technological advancements to the stakeholders and policy makers. It also provides an opportunity for the stakeholders and policy makers to interact with the scientists and extension personnel in the plantation sector for updating knowledge and sharing their experience. These interactions benefit the stakeholders and policy makers to take the plantation industries forward and meet the challenges and the scientists and extension personnel to identify the current needs of the industries.
The first symposium on plantation crop research was successfully concluded in 2004 with more than 300 participants, comprising of stakeholders, policy makers, scientists and extension personnel and a few international experts from the neighboring countries. The second and third symposia conducted in 2008 and 2010 respectively were equally successful with satisfactory stakeholder participation. The 04th SPCR this year is organized by the Tea Research Institute (TRI) in collaboration with the RRI, CRI and SRI as partners.
Sri Lanka is rated as the best producer of tea and rubber in the world for the past ten decades. In 2011, each tea and coconut sector contributed nearly 1.0 percent and the rubber sector nearly 0.3 percent to Sri Lanka's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and nearly 14, 3 and 2 percent respectively to the total foreign exchange earnings. On the other hand, the importation of sugar accounted for nearly 2 percent of the total outlay on imports in the year 2011, and there exists a potential for making a significant contribution to import substitution and saving foreign exchange. The four industries together provide about 2.55 million direct and indirect employment opportunities, strengthening the country's economy. Today, with the emerging local and global challenges, it is extremely important that the Sri Lankan plantation industries are geared to face such challenges successfully, continue in its position in the top world rankings, and contribute to the nation both in economic development and social well being.
The theme of the 04th SPCR "Technological Innovations for Sustainable Plantation Economy" under five technical sessions viz. Plant Breeding and Propagation, Land and Crop Management, Soils and Environment, Value Addition and Process Development, and Socio Economics and Technology Dissemination brings the scientists, extension personnel, stakeholders and policy makers to a common platform with new dimensions. It is hoped that the stakeholders together with the policy makers would cautiously recognize the innovative approaches and their adoption towards achieving national and global challenges. We, the members of coordinating committee of 4th symposium, believe that the continued efforts made by the plantation crop research institutes since the inception of symposium, would have facilitated closer interactions amongst the concerned parties towards strengthening the research and development programs in the plantation sector targeting at a sustainable plantation economy in the country.
Date: 20 September 2012
Venue: Taj Samudra Hotel, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Dr L. S. K. Hettiarachchi, Dr C. K. Jayasinghe, Dr J. M. D. T. Everard and Dr A. P. Keerthipala
Members of the Symposium Coordinating Committee Fourth Symposium on Plantation Crop Research
3rd Symposium on Plantation Crop Research (2010)
Theme: Stakeholder Empowerment through Technological Advances
Symposium on Plantation Crop Research, jointly organized by the four plantation crop (tea, rubber, coconut and sugarcane) research institutes, viz. TRI, CRI, RRI and SRI will provides a platform for scientists, policy makers, academics, investors, plantation managers and industrialists to network while identifying industry needs and empowering stakeholders with novel technologies. The prime objective of this symposium is to drive the plantation industry forward furthering its contribution for the national development.
The two symposia held so far had been very successful with the participation of more than 300, comprising international experts and stakeholders from Sri Lanka. The first plantation crop research symposium was held in 2004 with the theme “Current Trends and Future Challengers of the Plantation Industry” as a joint effort of TRI, CRI and RRI. The theme of the second symposium held in 2008 was “Export Competitiveness through Quality Improvements”. Deliberations of these two symposia have paved the way for focusing research more towards improving productivity in plantations and enhancing competitiveness through new scientific findings.
Despite many challenges faced by the growers as well as industrialists, the plantation sector continues to play a major role in the Sri Lankan economy. Providing employment opportunities for over 1 million and generating foreign exchange exceeding US$ 2200 million per annum (16% of countries foreign exchange earnings) are the key indicators of the sectors’ contribution to the economic growth of the country. Environmental benefits from this sector are global. However, scientists as well as policy makers have a key role in driving the plantation industry forward by providing innovative solutions to the current challenges such as emerging threats from pest and diseases, environmental degradation, climate change, high input costs, depleting work force, and vibrant markets. The Third Symposium on Plantation Crop Research sets the forum to discuss some of these issues with the stakeholders under the theme “Stakeholder Empowerment through Technological Advances”.
We sincerely hope that the efforts of the four research institutes would facilitate a forum for closer interaction among stakeholders and contribute towards developing a new era in the plantation sector through significant improvements in both upstream and downstream research.
Date: 30 September 2010
Venue: Cinnamon Grand Hotel, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Dr. R.S. Dharmakeerthi, Mr. J.M.D.T. Everard Dr. L.S.K. Hettiarachchi, and Dr. A.P. Keerthipala
Members of the Symposium Coordinating Committee Third Symposium on Plantation Crop Research