Browsing by Author "Mahindarathne, M. G. P. P."

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Awareness and adoption of recommended technologies and management practices by the Tea small holders
    (Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2015) Karunarathna, W. A. B. S.; Mahindarathne, M. G. P. P.
    Tea (Camellia sinensis) is the world famous beverage next to the water and having numerous health and socio economic benefits. Tea, the prominent crop of the plantation sector in Sri Lanka, grows in many parts of the country (Mendis, 1992).Tea growers who have lands less than 10 acres in extent are treated as “Tea small holdings” according the Tea Control act. The cultivation of tea is attractive to small farmers because tea provides work and income throughout the year, requires relatively little investment, and the risk of complete crop failure is small (Annual Report, Tea Small Holdings Development Authority, 2012).As well as the Contribution of small holders to the Sri Lankan tea sector is higher than the plantation sector and it is account for 71.4 % of the national tea output (TSHDA, 2012). Therefore, application of scientific agricultural knowledge and technology adaptation in the small holding tea sector is a vital investment to enhance the productivity and overall performance of the tea industry. Materials and methodology Data were collected through a sample survey by giving a structured questionnaire to 8 tea inspector’s (TI) ranges at Badulla administrative district and 150 small holders were randomly selected as the respondents. The questionnaire was mainly formulated to identify the awareness, level of adoption, and factors affecting to the level of adoption. The awareness was measured by percentage of aware respondents. The adoption level was measured by using “Adoption index” and “Confident interval method”. Adoption index was categorized in to three levels as low adoption, medium adoption and high adoption. To identify the factors affecting to level of adoption, regression analysis was conducted and “Adoption on Technology and recommended practiced” has been taken as the dependent variable and data were collected for dependent variable under five categories as Machinery usage, Planting materials, Field practices, Recommended tests and Extension services. For the independent variables data were collected under nine categorical variables as Gender, Age level, Education Level, Source of Income, Experience with Tea land, Land ownership, Land extent, Time spending with tea land and Yield. Data were analyzed using SPSS Software package and MS-Excel 2010 package. Descriptive statistics were done to analyze the independent variables and by using regression and correlation analysis factors affecting to the level of adoption was analyze and their strength was measured. Results and Discussion According to the study only 26 % of respondents have the awareness regarding machinery usage in tea plucking and from them, 48.7 % belongs to year 40 – 50 age group. 79.3 % of the respondents have awareness regarding the improved varieties. According to the study 64.7 % of the respondents have an awareness regarding recommended tests like pH test, starch test which use at the field. Extension services have been accounted under two categories as consulting services and E-consulting services and according to the study 100 % of the respondents have an awareness on consulting services while 36 % of the respondents have awareness on E-consulting services. According to the results of the study it shows that awareness on shade trees, pruning methods and soil conservation methods are respectively 95.3 %, 90.3 % and 93.3 %. Level of adoption was calculated using Adoption index and confident interval method. Data were collected under five categories and finally overall adoption level for the recommended technology and management practices was calculated
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Clientele satisfaction towards the services rendered by government to the tea small holding sector
    (Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2015) Hangawatta, H. A. C. M.; Mahindarathne, M. G. P. P.
    Tea is pre-eminent among Sri Lanka’s plantation crops and it is one of the most important industries in the country in terms of employment and foreign exchange earnings (Basnayake , 2002). Next to China and India, Sri Lanka is the oldest tea producing country in the world producing nearly for 150 years (Asopa, 2004). Over the years, the word Ceylon has become synonymous with quality tea. The entire economic base of the country was centered on the plantation sector at the time when Sri Lanka was gaining independence in1948; nearly 32% of GDP came from exports of plantation crops, which contributed 92% of the total export earnings. The development of the small holder sector, especially in the Low country helped to maintain the production level during the 1980’s despite the deterioration of the estate sector production. The smallholder sector expanded very rapidly and presently accounts more than half (76%) of the total production.(Annual Report, Tea Small Holding Development Authority, 2012) Small holders must receive current information and technology for effective management of their production, marketing and financial decisions. Individual characteristics of producers affect on the demand for information services while confidence in the information services is a central determinant of the frequency at which a producer refers to the services. (Yapa and Ariyawardana, 2005).Coupled with the information, financial support is vital to expand and maintain the tea production. This requirement is fulfilled through the subsidy policy of the government. Tea small Holding authority is the institute established as the main supportive body to the small holding sector. Other institutions that are responsible for tea are, namely, Tea Research Institute, Sri Lanka Tea Board and Tea Commissioner’s Department. So the research was conducted to identify the satisfaction level of the small holders towards the services rendered by the government, to identify major factors that cause to farmers satisfaction, to evaluate strong and weak areas of the government service procedure and to make suggestions to overcome the weaknesses in government services. Materials and methodology Data were collected through a sample survey by giving structured questionnaire to randomly selected 150 small holders in 8 tea inspector’s (TI) ranges at Badulla administrative district . The degree of satisfaction of the small holders was the dependent variable and it was measured with respect to five different dimensions of the present government service. The dimensions considered were quality of the service, relevancy of technologies/service, competency of extension personnel, general usefulness/effect and characteristics of extension agent. Responses were obtained from five point Likert scale with scores of 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Coded and scored data were analyzed by Using SPSS software package. Based on mean and standard error, farmers were grouped in to three as less satisfied group, moderately satisfied group and highly satisfied group. The cut-off points for this categorization was derived by using the formula “mean (X) + or – 1.96 Standard Error (SE)” (V.S Sidhakaran, 2008). Descriptive statistical techniques were used to present the demographic features of the sample. Simple correlation coefficient values were worked out to find out the strength of association between dependant variable and independent variables. Multiple linear regression analysis was worked out to find out the contribution of independent variables to dependant variable. Age, Gender, Education level, farming experience, innovativeness, number of training attended, membership of a small holder association and contact intensity with an extension agent were selected as independent variables.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Factors affecting on tourists’ buying behavior of Ceylon Tea
    (Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2015) Mudhannayake, M. N. C.; Mahindarathne, M. G. P. P.
    Worldwide tea production and consumption have increased over the past decades. According to largest producer of tea in the world (Sri Lanka Tea Board 2011). However, Sri Lanka still continues to retain its position as the main source of orthodox black tea in the world with the image of Ceylon tea enhanced by its unique specialty character. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka is one of very attractive destinations among the tourists all over the world. Sri Lanka Tourism has boomed to a new milestone of one million arrivals in 2012, which is an all-time high figure in the history of the country (Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority 2012). Ceylon tea attracted a whole new group of customers who were traditionally non-customers in the industry. Times are fast changing, and the people are no longer looking for the cheapest beverages. They are moving away from low quality tea to a quality product. With this background Ceylon tea is being popular among tourists coming to Sri Lanka. The local value added tea market is led by multinational players and small holders. All of these brands cater to low and middle income category consumers, who purchase tea for value for money. In addition to these players, there are plenty of small time cottage tea players who sell unbranded/loose tea (Prematunga 2009). Merely a few brands are targeting this consumer segment currently. Such brands also have no idea about tourists buying behavior of Ceylon tea. Consumer buying behavior has been always of great interest to marketers. The knowledge of consumer behavior helps the marketer to understand how consumers think, feel and select from alternatives like products and brands and how the consumers are influenced by their environment, the reference groups, family, and salespersons and so on. The consumer’s buying behavior is influenced by many factors. Most of these factors are uncontrollable and beyond the hands of marketers. An important marketing implication is that there is a growing demand to understand tourists’ buying behavior in Sri Lanka. Particularly in the context of Ceylon tea this is sort of significant. Understanding the tourists’ buying behavior of Ceylon tea is truly significant to the increment of sales and it functions as an indirect communication tool as well. However, despite its obvious importance, there appears to be a serious lack of formal understanding of touris ts’ buying behavior by both academics and practitioners. Thus, there is an immediate need of systematic research and scientific understanding of this topic. Methodology Data were collected through a survey by giving a structured questionnaire to 160 tourists who bought Ceylon tea from three tea centers located in Kandy district. Judgment sampling technique was used to select Kandy as the location of the study since it is one of the major tourist destinations in Sri Lanka. Further, Kandy is known as the most famous city among tourist for Ceylon tea. Among all the identified tea outlets in Kandy district, four tea centers were selected using random sample method. Data was collected from consumers on the basis of first come, first served (FCFS). Primary data was collected through a self-administered questionnaire among the tourist consumers of Ceylon tea. The questionnaire was consisted of three sections. Section 01 was consisted questions regarding demographic variables such as country, gender, age, education level and number of family members. These questions helped to express a simple overview of the sample. Section 02 was consisted 23 questions regarding independent variables which assume to be affected for tourists’ buying behavior of Ceylon tea. These questions prepared for gathering data about Product factors, Motivational factors, Promotional factors, Legal factors, Travelling factors, Awareness and attitudes of Ceylon tea and past experience with Ceylon tea. All those questions were created based on Five Point Likert Scale in order to identify how these predicted factors affect to Ceylon tea buying behavior. The Likert scale was ranging from strongly agree (SA) to strongly disagree (SD). Section 03 was consisted only one question regarding the amount spending for Ceylon tea by tourist consumers. This question prepared for gathering data about how much money they had spent for Ceylon tea during the journey. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 20 software and Microsoft excel 2013 software version. Descriptive statistical techniques were used to discover and summarize the attributes of the sample and it was provided descriptive information such as mean, mode, median and standard deviation of the studied sample. Correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis revealed that how predicted factors effect on tourists’ buying behavior of Ceylon Tea.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Investigating the factors that influenced the excess use of pesticides by the vegetable farmers in Badulla and Nuwara-Eliya districts
    (Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2015) Perera, M. T. D. C.; Mahindarathne, M. G. P. P.
    Pesticides are the results of modern technology and synthetic organic poisons used to exterminate specific organisms by inhibiting certain vital functions. They are applied predominately to kill or control weeds, insect pests and animals. Pesticides are widely used because of ease of application, high efficiency, temporary economic return and etc. (Nagenthirarajah and Thiruchelvam, 2008). When pesticides are help to farmers to get high production, massive usage of pesticides have been reported in many of commercial cultivations in whole around the world (Wilson and Tiddsell, 2001). Similar to many developing countries, pesticide related issues in Sri Lanka have become a major concern in the present day context. Majority of cases have been occurred due to the excessive usage of pesticides. Excess uses of pesticides have severe effects on environment and human health that may lead to an immediate and long term effects. Therefore it is important to identify the factors effect on excess use of pesticides which can help to overcome the intensive use of pesticides over the years in vegetable cultivation. In this context, the objectives of the study were (i) To investigate the farmers’ level of awareness in use of pesticides and (ii) To investigate the factors that cause to excess use of pesticides. Methodology The research was carried out in up country vegetable growing areas of Badulla and Nuwara Eliya district. Bandarawela, Welimada and Nuwara-Eliya Divisional Secretariat divisions were selected as the study area. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select 600 vegetable farmers from Nuwara-Eliya, Walimada and Bandarawela Divisional Secretariat divisions. Information were collected from farmers based on a semi structured pre-tested questionnaire. Both descriptive statistical method and binary logistic regression technique were used to analyze the data. Minitab 15 Statistical Software was used to get the output of binary logistic analysis.