DEVELOPMENT OF A CERTIFICATION MODEL  BASED ON GOOD AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES FOR POTATO PRODUCTION IN SRI LANKA

Potato is a highly demanded root crop in Sri Lanka and an excellent source of nutrients and vitamins. In Sri Lanka, the extent of potato cultivation is about 5,000 ha with an  average of 80,000 MT annual potato production and potato importation is around 62% of the local requirement. However, the quality and safety of potatoes produced in Sri  Lanka suffer from improper farming practices from production to the post harvest stage mainly due to the absence of Good Agricultural Practicesm (GAPs) attached to potato  production. “GAPs are practices that address the environmental, economic, and social sustainability of on-farm processes and result in the safety and quality of the final  products”. The attributes of GAPs in crop cultivation are associated with enhancing  potato output and promoting environmental advantages. Therefore, farming with GAPs can eliminate vast environmental and health problems in modern industrial agriculture. Hence, this intends to address present farming practices in potato cultivation and farmers’ view on the GAPs and GAPs-based guidelines with an aim of developing a  mobile-based certification model of GAPs for potato production in Sri Lanka. The present research works were mainly carried out in the major potato-growing areas in Sri Lanka from February 2020 to January 2023, the study drew 225 potato farmers from  Nuwara-Eliya (100) and Badulla (125) districts using the snowball sampling technique. The guideline model was designed according to the Design Science Research  methodology with primary and secondary data obtained from farmers through a pre tested structured questionnaire, and formal and informal discussions. Then designed model was verified and validated by domain experts. Finally, information and guidance in the designed model were fed through a “Govi-Nena” mobile application with the  help of user-friendly interfaces. The research findings revealed that the majority (90%) of potato farmers practiced proper practices such as land preparation, crop rotation,  intercropping, soil conservation, etc. while attached the practices like extreme usage of synthetic chemicals and fertilizers, improper soil fertility management, poor integrated pest management for crop protection, poor post harvest handling practices, and the packaging, storage, and transportation. In addition, high production costs, crop losses, market failures, potato imports, poor extension services, low yields, etc. were identified as key challenges for potato farmers in Sri Lanka. Further, the potato farmers in Nuwara Eliya and Badulla districts were highly willing to know about and follow GAPs. Moreover, the findings implied the farmer's experience (0.000), age (0.000), education level (0.014), awareness of GAPs, willingness to know GAPs (0.000), and willingness to follow GAPs through a mobile based application (0.000) as the key components to be considered in the development  of certification model through the proposed "Govi-Nena Good Agricultural Practices"  (GN₋GAP) model. Results revealed that the majority of farmers (90%) were highly  perceived on the developed GAP-based guideline system shedding a green light for the popularization and further development of a mobile-based guideline model to provide actionable information and guidance of GAPs to the farmers through a “Govi-Nena”  real-time mobile-based application.  

Keywords: Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs), Govi-Nena” real-time mobile-based 
application, Guideline system, Design Science Research methodology, Snowball sampling 
technique