FINANCIAL CHRONICLE – Sri Lanka has introduced a comprehensive suite of tools and a national digital platform for cultivation data and data-driven decision-making, with support from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Gates Foundation.
On Thursday, the government unveiled several initiatives, including the Agriculture Enterprise Architecture Framework, Agriculture Interoperability Framework, Data Sharing Policies, and CROPIX, a national digital platform for crop data and decision-making.
The launch represents the official introduction of a unified digital foundation aimed at modernizing agricultural governance, enhancing service delivery, and facilitating evidence-based decision-making within the sector, according to a statement jointly released by the FAO, the government, and the Gates Foundation.
“Together, these initiatives form the backbone of Sri Lanka’s emerging Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for agriculture, addressing long-standing challenges related to fragmented data systems, institutional silos, and limited data sharing across government entities,” the statement noted.
The Agriculture Enterprise Architecture Framework provides a strategic blueprint to align people, processes, data, and technology across agricultural institutions, ensuring that digital investments are interoperable, scalable, and future-ready.
In addition, the Agriculture Interoperability Framework and newly introduced Data Sharing Policies facilitate secure, standardized, and trusted exchange of agricultural data across ministries, departments, and digital platforms, as emphasized by the FAO.
CROPIX operationalizes the architecture and interoperability frameworks by integrating a national crop registry, cultivation and production data, forecasting tools, extension services, near real-time field reporting, APIs, and Open Data.
Through its web platform and mobile applications, CROPIX connects farmers, extension officers, planners, and policymakers around a single, trusted source of agricultural data.
“What we are witnessing today is the extension of Sri Lanka’s Digital Public Infrastructure into one of our most critical sectors,” stated Hans Wijayasuriya, Chief Advisor to the President on Digital Economy, during the launch.
“By applying enterprise architecture, interoperability, and trusted data-sharing principles to agriculture, we are ensuring that digital transformation delivers real value on the ground.”
“This approach enables scalable, secure systems that connect farmers to institutions, data to decisions, and policy to impact,” he added.
Vimlendra Sharan, FAO Representative for Sri Lanka and the Maldives, remarked at the launch that through this new initiative, Sri Lanka is positioning itself to more effectively respond to climate risks, improve service delivery, meet dynamic market demands, and make evidence-based decisions that leave no farmer behind. (Colombo/January 22/2026)
