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Boosting agriculture productivity needs balance between theory, practice, and policy: Academic

05 Sep 2021

  • Urges closer collaboration between researchers, science administrators, and policy makers 
By Ruwan Laknath Jayakody  In Sri Lanka, both policy makers and administrators of science, both groups who are funded by the public administration system, should realise the importance of both basic and applied sciences, and the fact that substantial efforts are needed for the purpose of problem solving and to commercialise science, so as to contribute and cater to the greater economy.  This observation was made by the Journal of Agricultural Sciences - Sri Lanka Editor-In-Chief Prof. M.P.S. Magamage, in an editorial on “Reconciling agriculture productivity, the scientific community and policy makers” which was published in the said Journal’s 16th Volume’s 3rd Issue on 1 September 2021.  Prof. Magamage noted that the global Covid-19 pandemic situation has parallelly exposed weaknesses in terms of global food security and food sovereignty and agriculture in the global community. This worldwide phenomenon is in part, due to poor linkages between the views of experts and those of the policy makers, and on the other hand, the poor mobilisation of agricultural resources and food systems, which is evidenced in most parts of the world, except in the case of a few developed countries. Moreover, countries affected by the pandemic focused more on securing and administering vaccines, as opposed to addressing the food security-related threats that would arise as a result.  With regard to food-security related threats, Prof. Magamage pointed out concerns owing to the increased populations, both human and animal. The world population is expected to rise to around nine billion by 2050. In this regard, the United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) observed that therefore, the application of conventional theories may not be effective to feed these rising numbers.  On the other hand, trade-based wars waged by affluent nations amongst them and geopolitical concerns are also becoming factors shaping the economies of small nations such as Sri Lanka.  In this context, Prof. Magamage explained that reconciling scientists and policy makers in the pursuit of agricultural productivity has become a nightmare.  Science, Prof. Magamage emphasised, is a collective endeavour to be followed, with the aim of explaining and understanding reality. It also has implications on every aspect of human engagement, owing to the knowledge generated over generations being linked to and having a significant impact in the context of the daily lives of human beings.  The main paradigms of science are the basic sciences and the applied sciences. Basic sciences are also known as natural science or pure science, and are defined as a fundamental understanding of the natural phenomena and the processes by which natural resources are transformed. Applied sciences are defined as a discipline that is used to apply the existing, available scientific knowledge in order to develop more practical applications, technologies or inventions. Here, Prof. Magamage elaborated on the impact of science, taking the example of life expectancy, where he noted that compared to the early 18th Century, the average life expectancy globally has more than doubled and is now over 72 years, a scenario which he attributes to the direct impact of the development strategies implemented as a result of the medical sciences, the veterinary sciences, agriculture and the allied fields, with scientific inputs coming from disciplines such as biology, physics, chemistry and sociology. Prof. Magamage further mentioned the improvements to the quality of life as a result of the application of technologies such as electricity, telecommunications, and biotechnology tools, in day to day life. Additionally, Prof. Magamage referenced Nobel laureate and theoretical physicist Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity as having been used extensively in a majority of innovative thinking related matters by creative persons.  In Sri Lanka, as of recent times, the concept of organic agriculture is once again discussed among the scientific community as well as the policy makers. Regarding this, Prof. Magamage explained that food security is often advanced in connection with agro-ecology, and cited reports which claimed that it is possible to feed the entire population of Europe by 2050 through a process of gradual agro-ecological transformation whilst integrating such with livestock farming, crops and forestry, along with having a target of zero carbon emission. However, according to Prof. Magamage, owing to varied consumer behaviour and consumption patterns and trends in the Asian Subcontinent as compared to the European community, in order for the successful implementation of agro-ecological food production to take place in Sri Lanka, the perspectives of policy makers, and scientific and anthropological viewpoints too need to be accessed and incorporated.  Hence, when it comes to agricultural productivity, the views of both the scientific community and the policy makers need to be aligned. Towards this end, a UN report published in March 2011 had noted that at the global level, in just 10 years, small scale farmers could double food production in vulnerable regions through the use of green production methods. It must be noted at this juncture that agro-ecology has, in addition to a technical agronomic dimension, also social and territorial dimensions. Therefore, as per Prof. Magamage, food security and agro-ecology, which are linked with the development of location-based food systems, must enable world food sovereignty with its food supplies in the short term, and by preserving production factors such as those concerning the soils, the quality of seeds, water resources and biodiversity, in the long run.  “The ultimate objective of research funding in many countries, irrespective of public or private modes, is the betterment of mankind. It has to be understood that the process of finding the secrets of nature cannot be sustainable, if the knowledge generated from all these innovations are not put into practice. Therefore, the proficient application of basic sciences will result in the applied sciences and the erudite use of knowledge gathered from the applied sciences will in turn give rise to modern innovations. Hence, greater understanding must be built up between the scientists and the policy makers in order to allow research to go beyond the mere intellectual satisfaction of learned academics, and to instead have a positive impact on the working class and the public.”  Countries, in particular, developed nations, find solutions to the majority of their problems through the use of science and technology and in the application of this same model in developing nations such as Sri Lanka, such endeavours, Prof. Magamage further explained, could be initiated with a carefully planned “science for all” concept rather than in an individualised manner where the knowledge that is generated through a scientific process will be utilised for building up the people’s quality of life, through a multilateral dialogue. Therefore, the understanding of this bi-directional, symbiotic relationship between the scientific community and the policy makers may be a pathway towards development.  In order to pave the way for reconciling agricultural productivity with the scientific community and the policy makers, Prof. Magamage, in conclusion, as solutions towards achieving such, recommended that scientists and policy makers work together and understand emotional intelligence, whilst also calling for scientists to be provided with new incentives, urging the use of knowledge brokers such as translational scientists, making relevant organisational and institutional changes, defining research in a broader sense, redefining the starting point for the transfer of knowledge, expanding accountability in research and at all times, acknowledging the complexity of the policy making process.

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