5th Symposium on Plantation Crop Research

Plantation crop sector is a vital segment in the economy of Sri Lanka in terms of land area, contribution to national balance of payments, income and employment. Tea, rubber, coconut and sugarcane crops have occupied nearly 760,000 ha, i.e., about 12% of the total land area, and this will increase to nearly 780,000 ha, i.e., about 14% with the expansion of sugarcane and rubber in non-traditional areas of Sri Lanka. Tea, rubber and coconut collectively contribute nearly 18% to export earnings, and sugar alone accounts for nearly 2% of import expenditure. This sector contributes nearly 2.5% to gross domestic product and provides more than 2.5 million employment opportunities, mostly for rural under-privileged communities.  Sri Lankan tea, popularly known as “Ceylon Tea” and natural rubber are internationally-renowned high-quality products of the plantation crop sector, and hence, they are internationally competitive even when the market prices are highly volatile.  However, comparatively low productivity of the plantation crops makes Sri Lanka to face intense competition globally due to high productivity and production in competing countries. Thus, the enhancement of productivity and total production of this sector is indispensable to increase its global competitiveness.

 

Protection of the production environment is an essential prerequisite to ensure sustainability of the development of this important sector. Technological advancements should be environmentally benign and the utilisation of natural resources for production should be carried out with due care for the environment. Development of crop varieties, crop management practices and process and/or products for minimising harmful effects on the environment, waste disposal for minimising environment degradation or its conservation, use and/or production of renewable energy and introduction of technologies for up-grading already degraded crop lands are some of the challenges for the scientists, policy makers, industrialists, etc. to increase productivity/production in an environment friendly manner.

 

The Fifth Symposium on Plantation Crop Research organised jointly by SRI, CRI, RRI and TRI under the theme “towards a green plantation economy” will make a forum for scientists, industrialists, investors, plantation managers, academics and policy makers to share the knowledge and experience to work together and towards the development of plantation economy in the country with the emphasis on the protection of the crop production environments.  The keynote and sectoral speeches delivered, scientific work presented and the discussions with stakeholders at the symposium will be enormously helpful for further work towards achieving a greener plantation sector.