Browsing by Author "Samaraweera, G.C."
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Item Constraints Faced by Potato Farmers in Major Potato Growing Areas in Sri Lanka: An ICT based Intervention(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2020) Mohamed, M.S. A.; Wathugala, D.L.; Indika, W.A.; Madushika, M.K.S.; Piyaratne, M.K.D.K.; Samaraweera, G.C.Potato is one of the most attractive crops and plays an important role in human nutrition. However, the average yield of the potato is less than its yield potential and local production is insufficient to meet the demand in Sri Lanka. Therefore, a field survey was conducted in major potato growing districts such as Badulla, Nuwara-Eliya, and Jaffna to examine key challenges faced by potato farmers. One hundred potato farmers were selected through a purposive sampling technique and interviewed using a structured questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS. The majority of farmers from study areas cultivate potato for consumption other than seed purpose and enriched with smallholdings. Results revealed that low farmgate prices (37%), pest and disease attacks (32%), and high cost of farm inputs (20%) are the major challenges faced by the majority of farmers. Low farmgate price for potatoes is mainly due to the involvement of a higher number of middlemen, the majority of farmers cultivate potato at the same time and low quality. Potato early blight, late blight, and bacterial wilt were common diseases; mite and whitefly attacks were the common pest attacks faced by the majority of farmers. Furthermore, high input price constituted the cost of seed potato (63%), fertilizer and chemical cost (18%), machinery and labor cost (12%), and cost for irrigation (7%). Thus, the importation of seed potatoes was the key influential factor for the increase of input price. The study recommends improving better coordination among stakeholders in the industry and it is crucial to direct farmers to follow proper cultivation and harvesting techniques. Further, the study suggested that it is important to come up with a mobilebased solution mainly among farmers to access context-specific information promptly and easily; that could be resolved major challenges faced by potato farmers in Sri Lanka. Keywords: Key challenges, Potato farmers, YieldItem Consumers' Moral Response to the Company Response in a Product Harm Crisis: A Role of Gender(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2018) Samaraweera, G.C.Product harm crises, defined as well-publicized incidences wherein products are found to be defective or dangerous. "Moral response" is a relatively new concept in the marketing literature. As product harm crises are grounded by consumer ethical beliefs, it is perfectly rational to consider consumers' moral thoughts in a product harm crisis ground. Irrespective of the different response strategies adapted by companies to manage product harm crises, product harm crises are increasing at an accelerating rate throughout the world recently. The mounting frequency of product harm crises resulting prolong devastating effect on company's reputation demands an innovative lens to search the effect of crisis response strategies on consumer perception. Therefore, main objective of the current research is to explore how gender shapes consumers' moral perceptions in response to crisis response in a product harm crisis. A self-administrated, pre-tested questionnaire survey was conducted related to fictitious product harm crisis situation. Yogurt was taken as the main stimulus brand. Two main crisis response strategies were considered as Voluntary response and Super effort response. After documenting the product harm crisis scenario related to the yogurt brand, first it described the Voluntary response strategies and questions related to consumer moral reputation towards the crisis company. Then it described Super effort response strategy and same questions related to consumer moral reputation towards the crisis company. The survey instrument included three (3) item constructed measures of consumer moral reputation towards the company, measured with 7- point Likert scales ranging from 1= “strongly disagree” to 7= “strongly agree.” Gender was measured as 1=male and 2=female. A sample (n=101) of Sri Lankan young consumers participated the survey. MANOVA ( 2 gender X 2 response) results revealed a significant effect of gender on consumers' moral reputation toward the troubled company in response to two main crisis response strategies; Voluntary and Super effort. Voluntary response strategy seems fruitful related to male consumers whereas super effort strategy benefits to use with respect to female. Therefore, study shows the importance of using gender specific crisis response strategies in midst of product harm crises. In fact, companies produce gender specific products and study reveals that the effectiveness of response strategies depends on gender. Therefore, study recommends using appropriate response strategies with respect to gender-specific product harm crises. These findings provide useful guidance for crisis managers, marketers, practitioners and for further academic inquiries.Item Current Situation of Sugar Industry in Sri Lanka: Future Challenges: A Case Study from Sevanagala Sugar Factory(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2010) Samaraweera, G.C.Sugar is one of the main food items in Sri Lanka with per capita consumption of 40kg which is within the high range among the world consumption. But the local production of sugar has decreased recently. Therefore, this study attempts to find out the factors affecting the decline in sugar production in Sri Lanka and recommends remedial measures to uplift the cane yield with special reference to Sevanagala sugar factory, Sri Lanka. The specific objectives of the study are, to find out the present status of sugar cane industry, to identify major problems related to sugar production, to workout future potential to increase sugar production and to suggest recommendations to uplift the sugar production. Results of the study reveal that sugar sector stands in a critical stage and it fulfils only 15 % of the local requirement as only two sugar factories, Sevanagala and Pelwatta are functioning in Sri Lanka at present. The study consists of 40 respondents (both out growers and settlers) and the study shows that, 20% of the farmers left sugar cane cultivation and diverted to paddy, cowpea, coconut and maize due to various problems such as absence of proper subsidy scheme, lack of efficient grading system, high transport losses (15%), irrigation and political problems. Moreover, profit gained from paddy is 40% while that from sugarcane is only 23%. Majority of the farmers (87%) stated that the factory is inefficient. There are 57% of farmers cultivating sugar under irrigation, but there is no drastic yield difference between irrigated and rain-fed systems. Twenty percent of the farmers use seed cane as planting material while 80% use ratoons due to low average cost. Even though CO- 775 is the most popular variety, it has low sugar content. Future potential to expand the industry includes generating power (40 MW from 5000 tons of crushing capacity), establishing a dairy farm, production of compost, filter mud, perfume and developing a sugar belt (Anuradhapura, Monaragala and Bibile) which can expect to fulfill 60-65% local requirement. The study recommends implementing sugar policy by controlling sugar imports, introducing high sugar content varieties such as SL 83062, promoting extension services and introducing efficient subsidy scheme as well as grading system to face the challenge ahead. Key words: out growers, settlers, ratoon, seed caneItem Managerial Implications of Product Harm Crisis: A Review(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2021) Sandeepani, D.M.M.; Samaraweera, G.C.A product-harm crisis is one of the worst nightmares prevailing in the market place that creates a threat to human lives as well as the company reputation and equity of brands. Therefore, the whole world struggle with how to best manage the product harm crisis. Hence, a systematic review of scientific articles was conducted using popular bibliographic databases by capturing relevant empirical studies which evaluating the product harm crisis management practices utilized to mitigate societal damages and to secure intangible assets. The study suggests that implementing a total quality management system (TQM) and organizational complaint management, developing online software to monitor customer response, reengineering the company work and building cross-functional teams, learning and evaluating the past and envisioning the future while detecting the weak signals become fruitful strategies to mitigate societal damages. Accordingly, global crisis management involving three phases including the pre-crisis phase, crisis phase and post-crisis phase in order to efficient management of product harm crisis. Past literature directs that protecting loyal consumers via building customer satisfaction, initiating customer relationship management (CRM), developing 3Vs‟ approach that includes defining the value of customer segment, proposition and the network that will deliver will secure the brand equity and company reputation. Moreover, specific managerial implications concerning the valuation of Consumer Based Brand Equity in a product harm crisis, customer-oriented bottom-up approach and the consumer‟s sense of control yield productive results in the management of product harm crisis. Most interestingly, past scholars have repeatedly documented that product harm crises are ethical issues and consumers‟ cultural variation is of utmost importance in crisis response strategy in particular. Finally, maintaining efficient financial records and pre-planned crisis agendas seem vital to the management of financial status in the product harm crisis context. However, the study concludes that further efforts are required to establish a holistic framework applicable to all cultures which is vital from a managerial perspective and managers should treat a product harm crisis as an ethical issue and attempt to understand moral perceptions of consumers by implementing moderating roles of brand attitude, brand trust and perceived quality of the brand. Keywords: Brand Equity; Management Implications; Product Harm Crisis; Reputation; Societal DamagesItem A Model for a Mobile Application to Support Agro-ecological Zones based Crop Selection in Sri Lanka(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2020) Mohamed, M.S. A.; Wathugala, D.L.; Indika, W.A.; Madushika, M.K.S.; Piyaratne, M.K.D.K.; Samaraweera, G.C.Agriculture is the key source of livelihood and economic support for the Sri Lankan population. The farmer is the salient stakeholder in agriculture and he has to decide the appropriate crops for cultivation in every season. This decision should be primarily based on market conditions including pricing but several other factors such as climatic conditions of the area, land suitability, irrigation facilities, etc. should also take into consideration. Thus, crop selection is a vital and critical decision that farmer has to get in the farming lifecycle and many farmers face problems in selecting the right crops at the right time to grow. Therefore, in this study, a digital platform has been created to provide crop suitability information based on the agro-ecological zones in Sri Lanka. Providing information regarding suitable crops according to agro-ecological zones in Sri Lanka is the correct intervention to facilitate farmers during the crop selection stage. Contextual data for crop selection were mainly gathered through primary and secondary sources. The study learned that the agro-ecological zones have been classified based on different climatic zones, annual rainfall, terrain characteristics, available major soil groups, and recommended crops for all agro-ecological zones. A crop selection model was designed and listed out suitable crops based on 46 agro-ecological zones in Sri Lanka. Further, this decision is depended on the influence factors such as major cultivation seasons, irrigation types, and farmer preferences, etc. The designed model has been provided through a mobile-based platform to the farmers. Then, they could easily find recommended crops and varieties suitable to their farms by asking users to add their Province, District, Divisional Secretariat, and Grama Niladhari, division. Thus, the model will be promised in supporting farmers to increase the profit and social status of the farmers in Sri Lanka. Keywords: Agriculture, Agro-ecological zones, Crop selection, Farmers, Mobile applicationItem Present Situation of Intercropping in Potato Cultivation in Nuwara Eliya and Badulla Areas(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2020) Shanadi, A.T.; Samaraweera, G.C.; Wathugala, D.L.; Indika, W.A.; Madushika, M.K.S.; Piyaratne, M.K.D.K.Intercropping is one of the methods of increasing crop productivity. It has proved to achieve many advantages. However, with the increasing demand for local potatoes, intercropping with potato cultivation in Sri Lanka is still an open research challenge which is needed to be addressed. On the other hand, Potato is extensively cultivated in Nuwara Eliya and Badulla districts in Sri Lanka. Therefore, this study examined the present status of intercropping in potato cultivation in Nuwara Eliya and Badulla areas to determine the farmer’s knowledge and awareness on intercropping in potato cultivation. The study was based on primary data gathered through questionnaires from 100 potato farmers selected through the snowball technique. Out of 100 farmers, 48 farmers were selected in Nuwara Eliya district and others were selected in the Badulla district. The results obtained were analysed using descriptive statistics. Results indicated that 58% of farmers were aware of the intercropping. However, among them, due to the lack of knowledge and ignorance of the benefits of intercropping 30% of farmers were not practicing it. The other 28% of farmers did practice intercropping with short term vegetable crops such as beans, radish, and leaks, etc. They gained extra income from intercropping at a low cost of production by proper land use and maximum utilization of natural resources such as water and nutrient. The rest of the farmers (42%) were not aware of intercropping with potato and its benefits. Meanwhile, 54% of farmers claimed that they did not have vital information such as crop choices, cropping patterns, and amount of potential harvest, etc. Therefore, the study has brought out the urgency of the appropriate knowledge delivery method to disseminate the right knowledge on intercropping with potato and to create the awareness to encourage intercropping in potato cultivation which ensures food security, poverty reduction, and sustainable utilization of natural resources. Keywords: Intercropping, Food security, Potato cultivationItem User-Friendly Applications for Sri Lankan Farmers: “Govi Nena”(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2020) Gunawardana, D.A.Y.K.; Indika, W.A.; Madushika, M.K.S.; Wathugala, D.L.; Piyaratne, M.K.D.K.; Samaraweera, G.C.Most of the Sri Lankan farmers are used to cultivate any selected crop traditionally, as they are taught to be from their farming society. Due to this reason, there will be an overproduction from the same crop within a particular season. Even several crop forecasting applications are available in Sri Lanka, lack of reliability is the main drawback of these applications. These applications fail to guide the farmers to get a detailed review due to the interfaces of these applications are unable to visualize the required data reliably. In this research, a “Govi Nena” mobile-based application and a web-based dashboard were developed to select the most accurate crops to be cultivated to get the highest market demand and yield in an instant and reliable way with the userfriendly interfaces. Farmers have to enter the data about the conditions of their land, soil types according to their agro-ecological zone to the mobile application when they register to the application. The mobile application links with crop knowledgebase and provides crop lists of what they need to cultivate and crop calendar for each crop based on the planting dates inserted by the farmers. The analysed information based on the farmer inputs through a mobile application will be visualized on the dashboard, which consists of multifunctional, proper, understandable, and user-friendly interfaces including tables, charts, and graphs. When a farmer uses this dashboard, he/she can get a clear understanding of; how the yield of each crop varies with the time, most compatible crops which have been cultivated in different areas, how the market price for the crops varies with the time, etc. The dashboard shows the relationships, comparisons, composition, and distributions of the information/knowledge. Farmers can get a clear picture through understandable visualizations via this dashboard for selected crops. Keywords: Web-based dashboard, Mobile-based application, Sri Lankan agriculture, famers