Sri Lanka : impact evaluation, rice research project

Ex post impact evaluation is based on site visits, document review, and interviews with project personnel and beneficiaries. The project significantly strengthened Sri Lanka's rice varietal improvement program. Twelve new rice varieties were released during the course of the project, two others have been released since, and others are currently being studied. The new varieties developed continue to be bred for resistance to pests and diseases and adaptation to various agro-ecological zones. The new varieties, which have been readily adopted by farmers, have led to increased rice production to the degree that Sri Lanka is now virtually self-sufficient in rice. However, farmers' net returns per acre and per bushel have decreased due to increased production costs. Intensified cropping systems have been adopted by high-resource farmers, but are not an option for farmers with economic or environmental constraints. In fact, due to continual difficulties in establishing field trials or an adaptive research program, little progress was made in developing improved agronomic practices for small paddy farmers. Strong linkages between research and extension do exist, however. Provision of training and commodities strengthened Sri Lanka's Department of Agriculture (DOA) as an institution. However, the project's effectiveness in this regard was reduced by poor management during the project and, thereafter, by weak research planning and bureaucratic obstacles. Several recommendations are provided.