A trend analysis of innovative investment in agricultural sector

Abstract

Agriculture is an important contributing sector and connective with rest of the sectors in Sri Lankan economy and one third of the working population engaging in this sector. However, many farm households have limited knowledge of modern production methods and struggle to get access resources such as commercial market, adopting new technology, varieties of seeds, fertilizers, harvesting methods, storages and marketing systems. These obstacles constrain their ability to compete the market and limit their family income. The innovative investment would create a better environment for the investor in this field. This study mainly focused the trend in innovative investment on agricultural Research and Development (R&D) such as the government’s public investment in agriculture research and development (R&D), higher education and full time equivalent in agricultural output, as well as to understand how such investment has played a role to compete agricultural production. These data for the study were gathered from secondary sources. The study found that the innovative investment in R&D is decreasing over the period of time and also output of the labour force could not increase along with the increasing population. By learning from the past and looking into the future, the agricultural policy makers should create the sound and innovative investment in agricultural R&D to prevent food crisis and ensure the sustainable agricultural development in Sri Lanka.