With the growing need for stronger adoption of climate-resilient agriculture, experts note that such investments in Sri Lanka are more about ensuring that solutions reach farmers, establishing proper adoption and awareness, and closing existing gaps to ensure sustained agricultural productivity, improved farmer income, and long-term food security.
This is especially important in the aftermath of Cyclone Ditwah, which destroyed early-stage Maha season paddy, vegetables, and perennial crops, disrupting both current and upcoming harvests.
A recent Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) research on this indicates that the resultant agricultural toll will shape food availability and farm incomes well into 2026.
Focusing on the entire agricultural value chain
One key initiative in building climate-resilient technology in Sri Lanka is the World Bank-funded Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP).
The project aims to improve climate resilience of farmer families and productivity of irrigated agriculture in 11 climatically vulnerable districts in the dry zone, costing $ 125 million. The World Bank contribution is $ 110 million. A total of 1,700 minor/medium irrigation schemes will be rehabilitated to benefit over 60,000 farmer families.
Additionally, one of the key recent initiatives is the Government and the World Bank Group entering into a new $ 100 million partnership this year. The initiative’s goals include directly supporting 8,000 agri-food producers, improving irrigation and drainage services on 71,000 hectares of land, and helping smallholder farmers adopt modern, climate-smart agricultural practices that increase harvests and reduce losses, building climate resilience in the agri-food sector.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, Sri Lanka Agripreneurs’ Forum Chairman Rizvi Zaheed stated that climate-smart agriculture in Sri Lanka was already being implemented through several initiatives.
He also highlighted the CSIAP, implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture with the Department of Agriculture, which mobilises micro-irrigation at a good scale. He noted that the project focused on a range of solutions, ranging from basic solutions such as sprinkler irrigation systems, drip irrigation, microjets, and hose systems, to optimise water use and reduce wastage.
Beyond this, Zaheed noted that private sector players, NGOs, and institutions such as Sarvodaya, along with initiatives supported by the Gates Foundation, had introduced measures ranging from rainwater harvesting to adtech platforms accessible via smartphones for better maximising returns from investments and the choice of crops.
He stressed that crop choice was central to climate-smart agriculture, as cultivating the same crops excessively often led to gluts and pricing issues. Thus, informed decisions can support food security, productivity, and farmer incomes, particularly in rural areas.
Zaheed also highlighted the importance of crop varieties and protected agriculture, adding that climate-smart practices must be considered with the entire agricultural value chain in focus, linking water management, production, and marketing.
“These high-impact measures, which include rain water harvesting, village tanks, small reservoirs, micro-irrigation, and solar-powered pumps, could improve yields and incomes through relatively low-cost interventions,” he added.
Zaheed believes that scalability of climate-resilient agriculture techniques can be achieved, provided that the pilot projects are implemented in a structured manner, such as with leadership from companies engaged in outgrower models that share knowledge, technology, and market access with farmers.
Some climate-smart technologies, such as drip irrigation and protected agriculture, involve high capital costs, making it necessary to prioritise lower-cost options where possible.
“Equally important is the issue of capital cost and access to finance. The Government’s re-purposing of fertiliser subsidies and the use of blended finance models have helped farmers access climate-smart technologies, with support coming not only from banks but also from non-bank finance institutions and organisations such as Sarvodaya, making finance available to farmers in a holistic manner,” he said.
Addressing necessary policy reforms in terms of those governing land use, Zaheed pointed to the potential to create farmer clusters. He noted that the existing policies governing agriculture and water required further work to better facilitate the use of land and water.
Furthermore, Zaheed noted the growing role of agri-tech. For instance, digital water and irrigation management by utilising soil moisture sensors is already taking place, with many companies engaging in such attempts. This also includes local weather forecasting, SMS advisories, and community dashboards to ensure early access of information to plan smart agriculture initiatives.
He noted that a key aspect in smart agriculture was the market, since this technology was part of a value chain, adding that it would be difficult to ensure a sufficient payback to their investments unless the markets were found.
Zaheed further highlighted that farmer education remained critical, noting that many rural farmers lacked a clear understanding of climate-smart agriculture and its benefits. He added that while extension services, mobile platforms, adtech platforms, and private sector initiatives were helping to bridge this gap, stronger communication was needed among farmer communities.
Proper scalability
Meanwhile, Senior Technical Adviser and Agribusiness and Value Chain Specialist engaged in Asian Development Bank and United Nations projects Nilushana Sooriyaarachchi observed that scaling climate-smart agriculture and modern irrigation systems in Sri Lanka was not primarily about introducing highly sophisticated new technologies.
This is because Sri Lanka already has a strong base of inbuilt practices such as mulching, conservation agriculture, water-saving methods, and land preparation practices. These can be continued and scaled where appropriate, bringing in technology such as precision irrigation, high-value crops, and climate-resilient varieties where necessary in addition to these.
According to Sooriyaarachchi, many of these already exist, but their commercialisation and field-level adoption remain limited. As a result, farmers often opt for imported varieties that offer higher yields but lack resilience to local climate stresses.
Moreover, he expressed the need for more penetration of digital agriculture tools, noting that while initiatives were available, adoption remained limited, requiring specific intervention. Thus, there is a need to move beyond working in silos.
He noted that while precision agriculture and micro-irrigation systems were important, they must be introduced selectively, based on cost-benefit ratios and economic returns. Sooriyaarachchi also pointed to a lack of integrated farming systems, with most cultivation still based on monocropping. An integrated system, with systems such as livestock and aquaculture, could improve farm-level resilience and productivity.
“The challenge is not the absence of technology or innovation but gaps in institutional delivery, incentives, and last-mile adoption. Many good innovations developed by entrepreneurs and universities remain in silos, or confined to pilot stages, with limited private sector involvement in commercialisation,” he added.
Market assurance
On policy support to enable last-mile penetration, Sooriyaarachchi noted that generally, subsidy schemes should encourage partial farmer ownership since ownership could help maintain equipment and yield better results due to obligation. He further emphasised the need to focus on economic returns in technologies, as well as the need to tailor technologies to different farmer segments based on suitability.
“Micro-irrigation is one of the key areas that should be subsidised to a certain extent, ensuring a certain ownership from farmers as well. Also, another key area is public-private partnerships, especially when focusing on the entire value chain. If there is no market, no matter the technology, there will be no translation into incomes.
“Thus, it is important to always look at the market and then work backwards, analysing the entire value chain and coming up with strategies accordingly,” he said.
Sooriyaarachchi stressed that the involvement of the private sector was essential, since the latter could ensure market availability as well as provide extensive support and technology. It is then a matter of ensuring this technology trickles down to smallholder farmers.
On productivity improvement, he noted that proper utilisation, practising necessary climate-resilient technology, and existing in-built techniques would improve productivity up to a minimum of 15–30% in yield gains and water savings of 20–40%.
This is important especially since yield stability reduces income volatility. This itself is an additional advantage, adding to an incremental income for farmers. Sooriyaarachchi added that treating water as an economic input rather than a free resource was essential for long-term resilience, an important factor in productivity gains.
Furthermore, depending on rainfall-driven production ultimately leads to food security issues. Thus, these should be in focus when introducing climate-resilient practices to ensure continuous supply to the market.
“Protected cultivation could reduce income volatility, target high-value crops, and improve overall farm profitability. Introducing climate-smart elements will support multiple seasons, and naturally lead to more income for farmers.
“To maximise benefits, climate-resilient agriculture must be approached through a full value chain lens, integrating water, finance, markets, and production systems, rather than focusing solely at the farm level,” he added.
Proper adoption can drive income stabilisation
Meanwhile, University of Colombo (UOC) Department of Economics Professor S.P. Premaratne also highlighted the World Bank-supported CSIAP as one of the key initiatives in driving climate-smart agriculture in Sri Lanka.
He noted that the project had been widely cited as successful, especially in terms of strengthening food security, supporting rural livelihoods, and contributing to broader economic stability.
These initiatives, he said, had helped farmers move from two cultivation seasons to three in some areas, diversify from paddy into multiple crops, and achieve water savings of over 30%.
With Sri Lanka experiencing several climate shocks over the past few years, Prof. Premaratne noted that the proper adoption of climate-smart agriculture could substantially support farmer income.
However, he highlighted that farmer awareness and acceptance remained a challenge, especially in relation to digital tools, early warning systems, and market access. If properly utilised, climate-smart agriculture can break the recurring cycle of crop losses, dependence on subsidies, and income instability through early warnings and proper recovery methods.
Prof. Premaratne added that stabilising farmer incomes through such approaches could support demand growth and broader macroeconomic stability, while also aligning with several Sustainable Development Goals, including poverty reduction and food security.
Consistent risk
Sri Lanka has consistently been placed among the countries at risk of extreme weather events by the Global Climate Risk Index.
According to the Climate Risk Index 2026, Sri Lanka ranks 52nd as the most climate-vulnerable country in the world and is highly susceptible to extreme weather events. Thus, rising impacts of climate change are a major threat to the agri-food sector.
Changing rainfall patterns, rising temperatures, and extreme weather events adversely affect farm production, aggregation, processing, and distribution along agri-food value chains.
According to the World Bank, future projections expect drier areas to become drier and wetter areas to become wetter. Significant losses have been caused due to the rising incidence of climate shocks, affecting the livelihoods of farmers as well as other value chain actors.
Prior to Cyclone Ditwah, the 2016/’17 drought reduced rice yields by 40%, mainly affecting dry and intermediate zones of the country. The affected crops also included tea, which saw a decline in production. The World Bank highlights that climate change disproportionately affects poorer households which are more dependent on farming income.
Need for R&D
This stresses the need to ensure that investment, Research and Development (R&D), and policy efforts are directed to ensure tailored climate-resilient techniques based on spatial needs.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, Sri Lanka Council for Agricultural Research Policy (SLCARP) Chairman Prof. Saman Dharmakeerthi emphasised the need to prioritise R&D for climate-resilient agriculture.
“We need to develop plant breeds and animal breeds that are resilient to climate change issues in the future. When climate change issues arise, the existing requirement for varieties and the variation of requirements need also be studied and these studies need to be properly promoted. The Government-adopted policy document includes these,” he added.