Dialogue on ‘Environmentally Friendly Agricultural Management’ with European Commission

Friday, 6 June 2025 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Sri Lanka Embassy in Belgium, the Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development of the European Commission (DG AGRI), and the Department of Agriculture of Sri Lanka initiated a dialogue on ‘Environmentally Friendly Agricultural Management’ on 23 May. Officials of the DG AGRI and officials from several institutions of the Department of Agriculture of Sri Lanka attended the first session of the virtual dialogue.

The EU side mentioned the importance of initiating this dialogue in the agriculture sector, focusing on topics that are of interest to Sri Lankan stakeholders under EU-Sri Lanka bilateral cooperation. While thanking the DG AGRI and the Department of Agriculture of Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan Ambassador to Belgium Chandana Weerasena emphasised the value of cooperation through this dialogue, in which both sides could identify areas that need mutual support and improvements and how to address challenges in the future. The Ambassador also mentioned that Sri Lanka can learn from European countries on areas such as agriculture modernisation, better utilisation of fertiliser, increase of yield, and post-harvest systems, among others. He also invited European officials to visit Sri Lanka and learn from Sri Lankan experts about areas such as ancient irrigation systems, indigenous agricultural practices based on scientific reasons, and some agricultural practices that are distinctive to Sri Lanka.

Rice Research and Development Institute of Sri Lanka Director Lakmini Priyantha cited this initiative as one of the important milestones for the Department of Agriculture of Sri Lanka to learn from each other and to develop effective agricultural methods in Sri Lanka in the future. R&D, innovation, and good agricultural practices were highlighted as some key areas for potential collaboration.

The EU side presented the green architecture of the EU Common Agricultural Policy, introducing the EU’s Green Architecture, its goals, and implementation strategies. They also presented key insights of the new EU Vision for Agriculture focused on resilience and sustainability. EU officials stated the possibilities for EU-Sri Lanka collaboration and exchange of knowledge and best practices in view of the upcoming climate negotiations in Bonn as well. Dr. M.A.P.W.K. Malaviarachchi presented the Sri Lankan approach to sustainability and resilience in agriculture while explaining an overview of Sri Lanka’s strategies in detail.

Both sides acknowledged that climate change, environmental challenges, and food security are some key issues directly affecting the agriculture sector while the world is on a transformative path, and the necessity for countries to come together, learn from each other, and support each other to address those challenges. While taking key insights from the dialogue, the DG AGRI assured their support in continuing this dialogue further and proposed to arrange the second online session after the summer break of 2025.

Minister – Commercial of the Sri Lanka Embassy in Belgium Thavishya Mullegamgoda also joined the dialogue.

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