Constraints Faced by Potato Farmers in Major Potato Growing Areas in Sri Lanka: An ICT based Intervention
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Date
2020
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Publisher
Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka
Abstract
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, Yield
Description
Keywords
Agriculture, Crop Production, Crop Production Technology, Agriculture Engineering