Appreciations

On December 10th, 1995, a great agricultural scientist who was internationally recognised passed away at the age of 74. I refer to Dr. Ernest Abeyaratne, one of Sri Lanka's finest intellectuals, who retired as Director of Agriculture in 1977 after a long and distinguished career in the public service. Ernest spent the next few years conducting seminal research in a lonely outpost of Palembang (Sumatra) in the capacity of a senior FAO consultant.

Despite his great intellectual stature, he was one of the most unassuming people I knew, who shunned fame, wealth and power and lived a life of utmost honesty and simplicity. A man blessed with deeply humanistic qualities, Ernest devoted his entire life to the Department of Agriculture (DOA) and to the cause of agricultural science. His contributions to the Maha-Illuppallama(MI) Research Station and to the development of dry zone agriculture are too well known to be elaborated upon in this short appreciation. However,one cannot fail to mention his dedication and devotion to research, which he considered more than a duty. For example, he was in the habit of walking barefoot and tending to his experimental plots even at dead of night-a sort of barefoot scientist who would promptly get on a tractor and plough the plots if the driver was absent. He was a man ahead of his time, for he adopted a "participatory approach" to agricultural research long before that term came into vogue in international circles.

Ernest, a distinguished son of Trinity College, Kandy, joined the DOA in the mid 1940s and obtained a PhD in Plant Physiology from Oxford University in the late 1950s. He is best known for his pioneering work at MI in such areas as plant breeding, soil and water management and farming systems research-so much so that his name is synonymous with MI, an institution which he built up from scratch during the first half of his professional career. At MI, Ernest was ably assisted by a first-rate team of officers, including Dr. Walter Fernando (deceased), Mr. Selvaratnam (deceased), Mr. Medagama (deceased), Dr. Chris Panabokke, Dr. E.S. Thevasayagam and Mr. S.H. Charles.

The second half of his professional career was spent mostly at the DOA headquarters in Peradeniya-first as Deputy Director, Extension and second, as Director of Agriculture. As Director, Ernest considerably improved the conditions and service of officers through the establishment of the Agricultural Service, which enabled technical officers to remain in their specialized posts but draw higher salaries with mobility from grade to grade. Earlier, large numbers of officers had to stagnate while awaiting a post to fall vacant, which resulted in many having to retire in utter frustration. These revolutionary changes enabled the DOA to draw the best from its specialized and technical cadres, for which Ernest would be long remembered, together with his massive contribution to make Sri Lanka self-sufficient in rice through a regionally specialized breeding programme linked to a dynamic and well-structured extension programme, which even prestigious international agencies drew inspiration from.

As a person who worked closely with Ernest in the Directorate, I have discerned two facets that revolutionized his life and his thinking. First, as a young undergraduate receptive to new ideas, Ernest would have been greatly influenced by the prominent thinkers and activists of the time - particularly the leading Marxists, who frequently addressed the student unions and had the ability to move the audiences with their superb oratorical skills and powerful ideas. His socialist tendencies would have been enhanced by his close association with the poor, dry zone farmer, whose lot he constantly endeavoured to improve through almost 35 years of dedicated service to the nation. His privileged, upper-middle class background notwithstanding, he put into practice his socialist ideals by leading an utterly simple, honest and sincere life and by pursuing the goal of transforming Sri Lanka's non-plantation agricultural (NPA) sector with single-minded purpose and vigour. Ernest, who was extraordinarily sensitive to the plight of the poor farmer, did much to improve the productivity of the NPA sector through technical, institutional and policy change, thereby making a meaningful and long-lasting contribution to Sri Lanka's economic development.

The next great personal change came during the autumn of his life, largely as a consequence of the simple and rustic existence he led in MI, during which time he paid close intellectual attention to the ancient wonders of the dry zone, including the mighty reservoirs, the towering dagobas, and the ruins of well-laid Viharas and other great Buddhist monuments. Ernest, no doubt, would have been deeply impressed and influenced by these lofty engineering and architectural achievements dating back more than 2,000 years. Not surprisingly, he became a practitioner of Buddhism in his retirement, devoting his time to pursuit of the Dhamma.

Ernest - scientist, humanist, and original thinker - spent the last year of his life hammering out a thoughtful and erudite book on Buddhism on his battered old Remington, which he entitled, 'Findings of Gautama Buddha on the Fundamental Realities of Existence'. The book was published posthumously by his loving and devoted wife, Ranee, and proved to be so popular that a second edition has just been released. In view of his lofty mental and spiritual development, his end was peaceful and so be his sojourn in Samsara. May he attain the bliss of Nibbana!