Dr. Surantha Salgadoe, ISPA Country Representative for Sri Lanka, Sujith Ratnayake and Sharon Mendonce   The short answer: Yes! Discover how drones can help overcome agricultural challenges in Sri Lanka's cascade landscapes and build a mutually beneficial partnership between young researchers and smallholder farmers in the region of Anuradhapura.   There’s a reason why aerial shots are so captivating: they reveal a perspective we aren’t used to, and that we most likely can’t experience ourselves. They can also evoke a feeling of awe, when we see the size of humans in comparison to majestic landscapes!   Like several other aerial videos, the one above was captured using a drone (also known as an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle or UAV). Drones are incredibly versatile and can capture footage from various angles and altitudes. Their technology has advanced greatly in the past two decades, enabling them to support crop management and early warning systems, as well as wildlife and forestry conservation.    Mounting pressure in the cascade landscape    Sri Lanka's unique cascade landscapes consist of ancient networks of interconnected water tanks, as well as the surrounding villages, forests and farmland that depend on these water sources. For generations, a large part of the communities living in these cascade landscapes have depended on farming for their livelihood. As a result, the community has a rich history of traditional knowledge and agricultural practices that have enhanced crop productivity and guided agricultural development in the landscape.    However, today’s cascade landscape farmers face mounting pressures such as the rising cost of living and increasingly unpredictable and extreme weather patterns due to climate change. In the hopes of expanding and intensifying their crop production, ...more