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Input Intensification in Food Crops Production and Food Security

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Agricultural Research for Sustainable Food Systems in Sri Lanka

Abstract

“Green Revolution” has paid its dividends with an astonishing period of growth of food crop productivity, especially in the developing world, over the past 60 years. Agricultural intensification has been the prime driver of increased per capita food production globally. Sri Lanka is not an exception where Green Revolution took place since late 1950s in the two agrarian structures, namely irrigated and rainfed, with the major objective of increasing the total agricultural production. Food crop production in Sri Lanka has evolved to come up with novel cultivation packages, double cropping, improved seeds, fertilizers and pesticides, mechanization, and institutional arrangements. In this scenario of input intensification, the sustainability of the food production systems has been questioned by many. Hence, transformative changes of agriculture and food systems are the current needs in all countries including Sri Lanka to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs), with well-articulated interventions to enhance modernization of the food production sector, increase national level food production, and ensure mechanisms to sustain household and national-level food security.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge support extended by Dr. J.A. Sumith (Registrar of Pesticides, Department of Agriculture), Dr. Lakmini Ashraff (Additional Director, Seed Certification and Plant Protection Service—SCPPC, Department of Agriculture), and Mr. B.H. Rohan Induka (Assistant Director, National Fertilizer Secretariat, Ministry of Agriculture) in providing statistical information.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

    Buddhi Marambe

  2. Sri Lanka Council for Agricultural Research Policy, Ministry of Agriculture, Colombo, Sri Lanka

    S. S. B. D. G. Jayawardena & Hemantha Wijewardena

  3. Department of Agriculture, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

    W. M. W. Weerakoon

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  1. Buddhi Marambe
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  2. S. S. B. D. G. Jayawardena
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  3. W. M. W. Weerakoon
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  4. Hemantha Wijewardena
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Correspondence to Buddhi Marambe .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

    Buddhi Marambe

  2. Department of Agricultural Economics and Business Management, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

    Jeevika Weerahewa

  3. Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

    Warshi S. Dandeniya

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Marambe, B., Jayawardena, S.S.B.D.G., Weerakoon, W.M.W., Wijewardena, H. (2020). Input Intensification in Food Crops Production and Food Security. In: Marambe, B., Weerahewa, J., Dandeniya, W. (eds) Agricultural Research for Sustainable Food Systems in Sri Lanka. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2152-2_10

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