An initiation ceremony for the Japan-funded project for the establishment of a Research and Training Complex at the Jaffna University Agriculture Faculty, was held recently.
The Government of Japan has extended a grant assistance worth 1.6 billion Japanese Yen (about 2.2 billion LKR) through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for the project.
The chief guests for the ceremony included Higher Education and Highways Ministry Secretary D. C. Dissanayake, Japanese Embassy in Sri Lanka Counsellor/Deputy Head Mr. Koji Yagi, Jaffna University Vice Chancellor Prof. R. Vigneswaran, and Senior Representative Toru Kobayakawa.
During and after the conflict, the entire Kilinochchi Campus of the university had to relocate for about 25 years until they finally moved back in 2014. The Faculty of Agriculture gradually increased its scale since then; currently 258 young and aspiring students from all around the island are studying together.
The new facilities to be constructed through this project include a building complex with laboratories and lecture rooms, crop and animal farms for field training, farm machinery, and laboratory equipment. At the end of the project, there will be practical training for maintenance and operation of some of the equipment.
With this assistance, students will have an opportunity to receive field-based, hands-on knowledge on agriculture. From 1954 to 2016, JICA sent more than 2,700 experts to Sri Lanka; a considerable sum of them specialized in agriculture. These Japanese agriculture experts are known for their approach to go into the field with farmers to transfer their knowledge by ‘touching the dirt.’ JICA expects these new facilities in University of Jaffna to produce more of these ‘farmer-scholars’ of Sri Lanka’s own and their ideas and innovations to bloom in the field.
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