Browsing by Author "Lakmali, C.D.A."

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Adoption of Eco-Friendly Technologies in Paddy Farming in Sri Lanka as an Alternative to Chemical Fertilizer: Exploring the Farmer Perceptions
    (Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2019) Lakmali, C.D.A.; De Silva, L.H.N.; Mudalige, U.K.J.; Dharmakeerthi, R.S.; Dandeniya, W.S.; Balasooriya, W.K.
    There is a greater interest among scientists to develop Eco-Friendly Technologies (EFTs) for paddy farming, from one hand, to reduce chemical fertilizer usage, and to safeguard food supply and ecosystem health, on the other. This paper explores the attitudes and perceptions of farmers that trigger them to use certain EFTs produced such as (‘slow release fertilizer’, ‘organic carbon’, and ‘microbes’) produced through a multi-phased project funded by National Research Council of Sri Lanka. These EFTs were incorporated into the root ball of the rice plant at the nursery stage and then healthy seedlings were planted in the field by using the ‘Parachute Technique’ method (i.e. alternative technology to other modes of seed establishment including ‘broadcasting’ and ‘transplanting’). Farmers from Anuradhapura and Kurunegala districts (n=80) were selected to collect data in terms of farmer attitudes and perceptions linked with six key criteria related to these EFTs including: (1) ‘Regulation’; (2) ‘Cost’; (3) ‘Environment’; (4) ‘Performance’; (5) ‘Services’, and (6) ‘Acceptance’. The possible effects of each criterion were written in the form of attitudinal statements and supported by a 10-point likert-scale. The scores provided by farmers on each statement were subjected to the tests on Scale Reliability and Unidimensionality and then used to derive Aggregate Mean Scores. Results suggested that, ‘Parachute Technique’ was better than broadcasting with respect to Regulation (1.44), Environment (-2.49) and Performance (-1.57). The farmer perception on parachute technique was ‘poor’ only for Service (0.19) when compared to transplanting. The outcome of the analysis highlights the importance of generating private and market-based incentives for farmers as potential end-users to encourage adoption of EFTs in paddy cultivation. Further, availability of related services and facilitative institutional framework will have a direct impact on the adoption of such EFTs.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Paddy Farmers’ Willingness-To-Pay towards Eco-Friendly Farming Technologies: Case of Adoption of Parachute Technology
    (Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2019-02) De Silva, L.H.N.; Lakmali, C.D.A.; Jayasinghe-Mudalige, U. K.; Dharmakeerthi, R.S.; Sirisena, D.N.
    The controversial issue of an excessive usage of chemical fertilizers in paddy farming led scientists to investigate on and invent environmentally-friendly production technologies (EFTs) such as ‘Parachute Technology’ that enhances the efficiency of fertilizer uptake. What factors trigger farmers to adopt EFTs in the field, and more importantly, the “role of economics” in adoption of such technologies is, however, not yet fully disclosed. This study, in particular, explores the outcome of an economic analysis carried out to determine the Willingness-To-Pay (WTP) of farmers, as potential end-users, for Parachute Technology. Data were collected by way of face-to-face interviews supported by a structured- questionnaire from a set of farmers (n=120) registered with a multi-stage multi-criteria project on production and promotion of EFTs in Kurunegala and Anuradhapura districts. Choice experiment method was employed to elicit their Marginal WTP for individual attributes. The estimates from Conditional Logit model revealed that certain attributes, including ‘low environmental damage’ (i.e. the highest value of Rs. 7,872), ‘requirement of training’ (Rs. 5,183), ‘integration ability with other EFTs at the beginning’ (Rs. 4,099) and ‘low fertilizer wastage’ (Rs. 2,488) possess a significant relationship with farmer’s WTP. These imply that the farmers, in general, exhibits positive attitudes and willing to pay relatively high prices for eco-friendly attributes associated with EFTs like Parachute Technology, but needs to expose them to a facilitative process along with financial packages to offset short-term benefits of chemical fertilizer use.