Lanka Organics and the NSRC

The Neosynthesis Research Centre (NSRC) in Sri Lanka was founded by one of the directors of Lanka Organics, Dr. Ranil Senanayake, to explore the viability of Analogue Forestry and Forest Garden principles in commercial organic agriculture. Lanka Organics has been a pioneer in the implementation of Analogue Forest and Forest Garden principles, and the lessons learnt from the NSRC are integrated into all our agricultural projects. Following the success of the NSRC and Lanka Organics’ projects in enhancing biodiversity and sustainability whilst greatly improving the income of small farmers, the Forest Garden model has been effectively used in Ecuador, The Philippines, Mexico, Peru, Australia, Canada and Costa Rica.

The problem…

In establishing the NSRC the main aim was to develop an economically viable way to re-forest the country. Originally Sri Lanka was forested throughout, and this protected the soil from erosion and leaching by rain, making the land fertile. The forested hills in the centre of the island fed the lowlands with water throughout the year, making this land fertile in its own right. The conversion of the hills to monoculture with the clearing of the forests for the introduction of coffee, and then tea and rubber, has meant that the degraded soil of the hills can no longer supply the lowlands with water throughout the year.

All across the country the introduction of monoculture and short-term cash crops like sugar cane has meant forest clearance and degradation of soil quality. Population increase has made the traditional ‘slash and burn’ practices for the growing of crops unfeasible; there is not enough land for this. In many areas where forest has been cleared, the land is only able to sustain a single harvest of a short-term crop like sugar cane, and has subsequently to be abandoned as useless for agriculture. All over the country more and more artificial fertiliser must be used to compensate for the constant loss of soil quality. The implications of modern agricultural practice in Sri Lanka for biodiversity and species diversity are devastating.

The solution…

The Analogue Forest /Forest Garden concepts provide an answer to the problems facing agriculture and the environment in Sri Lanka today. If the concepts were applied throughout the country, the increased ground cover and careful soil management would restore soil quality and feed the lowlands with water whilst allowing bio-diversity and species diversity to recover.