Browsing by Author "De Silva, Nilantha"

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    Achieving Community Development through an Agricultural Extension Programme: Technology Dissemination for Mushroom Farmers
    (2021-07-20) De Silva, Nilantha; Wijeratne, Mahinda; Panda, Santosh
    Mushroom production is a small-scale business unit in rural areas. The Life Long Learning for Farmers (L3F) Programme aims to enhance the socio-economic conditions for them, increasing their access to and use of knowledge and technology. This study evaluates the outcomes of the L3F Programme at the community level. Data were collected through a pre-tested questionnaire survey. The sample consisted of 30 L3F farmers. Farmers’ achievement was assessed by the Farmer Performance Index (FPI). Results indicate that mushroom farmers have scaled up their production; have improved their productivity; designed new experiments to minimise the impact of pests and diseases; focused on environmental sustainability and scientific mushroom production; and improved the quality of packaging. The mobile app Bimmal Govi, blended with Information and Communication Technology, helped them to move with the latest technological advancements. The L3F Programme has increased the standards of mushroom production, helping the farmers become promising entrepreneurs.
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    Role of Participatory Approaches in Wetland Management: Evidence from the Bundala Wetland of Southern Sri Lanka
    (2019-09) Dharmawardhana, Thushara; De Silva, Nilantha; Amarasinghe, Oscar
    Wetlands are the most productive and vulnerable ecosystems in the world. Over the decades, they have been degraded and destroyed due to over exploitation of wetland resources and improper development activities. Bundala wetland is one of the wetlands among them which has a threat of being degraded at present. Hence, this study was conducted to ascertain the key aspects of the sustainable wetland management plan with regard to perspectives of stakeholders. Participatory approaches enable people to plan and act in the society facilitating bottom up approach. Data were collected through a focus group discussion with a group of lagoon and marine fishers, farmers, members of village wetland committee and park officers. Resource map, pair-wise ranking and historical profile were the participatory tools used for data collection. Bundala wetland has five natural lagoons and provides a breeding ground for turtles. Lagoon fishing is main livelihood. However, people employ in the salt factory as an alternative income. They stressed that immediate actions should be needed to divert the drainage water which flow from the paddy fields to the lagoons. Further, they highlighted eradication of invasive species which is a threat to the wetland biodiversity. During the last decade, drastic changes were observed in lagoon fishing, marine fishing and agriculture. Lagoon fish (shrimp) harvest drastically reduced, several fish varieties were disappeared. Marine fishers were experienced of a cold water layer in the sea surface. Further expressed their observations on changes in rainfall pattern and its intensity and the high temperature during last four decades. Community has identified that biodiversity, eco-tourism and lagoon fishing are the important aspects for a sustainable wetland management. Findings of this study imply that participatory approaches are advantageous to act on sustainable wetland management as the information has come out from stakeholders of the wetland practicing bottom up approach. // Paper ID 227