Abstract
This study was focused on the Moneragala district which is one of the districts in the Uva Province. Rubber cultivation, being a new initiative there is a high risk of resource wastage in these areas which necessitated a detail study for proper planning of this exercise. Hence, the objective of this study was to assess the existing status of rubber cultivation in this area together with socio-economic conditions of rubber farmers. A questionnaire survey was done to collect relevant information from 255, 248 and 143 respondents in the respective categories of farmers who are prepared to cultivate rubber (potential farmers) and those who own immature and mature rubber plantations. Participatory studies were also done to assess the awareness on technical recommendations of rubber. The technical efficiency of rubber farmers was studied employing a stochastic frontier approach. More than 50% of the farmers had only primary level education. Hence, education needs to be considered as a constraint in improving the awareness of rubber farmers. Higher percentage of farmers with a monthly income of less than Rs. 10,000 should also be regarded as a bottleneck for the adoption of recommended technologies. Awareness on recommendations in immature phase ranged from 19% to 55% which was not at a satisfactory level. The awareness on tapping related activities was also not adequate since the awareness scores for both general and technical knowledge on tapping were below 40%. The production efficiency levels of mature rubber lands ranged from 17% to 96%, with an average value of 59%. The lands with smaller extent have lower efficiency levels. Those who practice the recommended tapping intensity had high efficiency levels. The average efficiency observed in the virgin panel was 62% while it was 52% with the renewed panels. The average efficiency in the lands tapped by owners themselves was 61% while when tappers were hired it was only 55%.
Highlights
Increasing productivity and extent under cultivation are the two possible solutions to achieve the national targets in the rubber sector
The higher percentage with a monthly income of less than Rs.10,000 should be regarded as a bottleneck for the adoption of recommended technologies and proper monitoring methodologies need to be adopted in disbursement of subsidies to ensure proper use of state funds
The average efficiency observed in the virgin panel was 62% while it was 52% with the renewed panels
Summary
Increasing productivity and extent under cultivation are the two possible solutions to achieve the national targets in the rubber sector. The rubber extent in late 1970s, which was recorded above 200,000 ha, reduced drastically since 2002 to 114,000 ha This is mainly due to change in land use that took place in traditional rubber growing areas in the wet zone of Sri Lanka. There is some obvious evidence since Uva province is still the poorest with poverty Head Count Index (HCI) of 27% while Moneragala and Badulla districts have HCIs of 33.2% and 23.7%, respectively and being ranked as 2nd and 4th districts based on this index (Anon, 2009) With this background, there is a risk of resource wastage unless proper planning is done at the initial stages of rubber
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