Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Agricultural administration Sri Lanka'

Experience in Sri Lanka has shown that agricultural development alone is not capable of significantly improving farm family welfare. Studies conducted elsewhere have shown that when farm households members were pluriactive, they were generally able to enhance their well-being. The objectives of this study are to examine the factors that determine the decisions of farm operators and their wives to be pluriactive in Sri Lanka and assess the effects of farm household pluriactivity on technical efficiency of farming. Off-farm labour supply decisions of farm operators and their wives were explained theoretically, using household production theory. Data collected from 240 farm households, randomly selected from four villagers, were used to test the models. First, determinants of pluriactivity of farm operators and their wives were estimated separately for farm operators and their wives, using both a logit model and a probit model. Second, a bivariate probit model was used to estimate the determinants of pluriactivity of farm operators and their wives together, considering simultaneity of their decisions. Individual, farm and household characteristics influenced mainly farm operators decisions to be pluriactive, whereas individual, household and locational characteristics were more important for wives' decisions. Income from pluriactivity was a major contributor to the well-being of most farm households. However, pluriactive income appears to increase income inequality among farm households. The impact of pluriactivity on technical efficiency of farming was examined by estimating the farm-level technical efficiency of rice production, using the frontier production function technique and then using ANOVA. A positive association was observed between the technical efficiency of rice production and pluriactivity of farm households. Pluriactivity can be seen as a major contributor to household well-being and future strategies to alleviate poverty in rural areas must recognise the potential gains arising from increasing pluriactivity.

This study analyses important technical, managerial and economic factors in relation to the long-run sustainability of the small-holder sugarcane-based production systems at the three main sugar mill areas in Sri Lanka. The sustainability is an issue in view of the low overall productivity and profitability of the Sri Lankan sugar industry, the absence of grower-miller and grower-grower equity, and environmental concerns over sugarcane cultivation and processing. The degree of sustainability was measured by a composite index involving the economic welfare of farm households, the viability of the sugar companies, grower-miller equity, and the fertility status of sugarcane-growing soils. The analysis was carried out by means of a dynamic and stochastic simulation model of small-holder sugarcane production, and sugar and molasses processing. The model consists of production and processing sub-models, together with subsidiary sub-models for cane and ex-factory sugar pricing, rice production and off-farm activities. It uses primary data from a farmer survey, and secondary data from sugar companies, sugarcane experiments and other sources. The results indicate that productivity of sugarcane farming and sugar processing is mainly affected by technical/management factors, and profitability by both technical/management and economic factors. The existing cane payment systems are not equitable in dividing the proceeds of sugar and by-product processing. An alternative formula, which takes into account the commercial value of cane, and divides sugar proceeds in proportion to cost shares and by-product proceeds on an agreed proportion, ensures greater grower-miller equity. In most situations, sugarcane cultivation does not degrade N fertility of soils, but it depletes P and K. Overall, the level of sustainability is low for both settler and out-grower systems under the existing conditions at Hingurana and average for Pelwatte and the irrigated system at Sevanagala. For the rain-fed system at Sevanagala, it is above average.

The main objective of this study is to determine whether 1971 fertility differentials in Sri Lanka's dry zone can be explained in terms of agricultural development. It is hypothesized that agricultural development might be associated with low fertility due to the effects of agricultural development on intermediate variables found to be closely related to fertility in other studies. Yotopoulos work on the relation between economic development and fertility provides a useful theoretical frame. The methodology employed is path analysis. Findings indicate that agricultural development is not related to fertility differentials in Sri Lanka's dry zone. Differentials in fertility are explained primarily in terms of cultural factors, female education, female age at marriage, and family planning.
Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
Graduate

The purpose of this study was to appraise the attitudes of agricultural instructors providing village extension services in the northern province of Sri Lanka toward their job in the agriculture extension service. Major findings indicate in the aggregate, agricultural instructors like their job and have a good attitude toward their job. The job factors offering the agricultural instructors the positive attitudes are the communication established between agricultural instructors and various layers of administration, the intrinsic reward of the job itself, and the relationship with co-workers and the working conditions. The job factors offering the negative attitudes was the pay and its adequacy for a comfortable living. Attitudes of agricultural instructors toward the job and its relationship with service were not significantly varied with service.

This study analyses the effect of socio-economic and communicative factors, farm-level resource constraints, and government policies on the adoption of coconut-based intercropping (CBI) in Sri Lanka. This practice was introduced 20 years ago to overcome the two main limitations of traditional coconut monocropping inefficient land use and low incomes to farmers, but it has not been widely adopted. Benefit-cost, multiple regression, and categorical data analysis, and an assessment of constraints on CBI adoption using a multiperiod linear programming (MLP) model of three farmer groups, categorised using cluster analysis, were carried out using data collected from a farmer survey, on-farm CBI trials and from secondary sources. The economic analysis reveals that CBI gives higher returns per hectare than coconut monocrops, but the benefit-cost ratio, and returns to both labour and working capital of some CBI systems, are lower than those of monocrops. The multiple regression and categorical data analyses indicate that the adoption of CBI is positively influenced by the availability of labour and cash, and by extension contacts, while it is negatively affected by rice cultivation. The MLP model results reveal that an expansion of CBI is mainly constrained by seasonal labour shortages for all farmer groups, particularly the high-income group, and by the scarcity of cash in the case of resource-poor farmers. CBI policies aimed at subsidising inputs or intercrop prices are not likely to be efficient in raising adoption, but alternative policies aimed at alleviating resource constraints would be more effective. The high risks and management demands associated with CBI also affect its adoption because of the diverse activities of coconut farmers. The less risky and reduced management demands of monocropping appear to meet the needs of the many coconut farmers with outside interests.

Planning for disasters has been linked to positive outcome in the business recovery process. However, unpreparedness for disasters is prevalent in many developing countries where most small businesses do not maintain a disaster/emergency plan. Sri Lanka in recent years has experienced upsurge in natural disasters from floods, wind storms, droughts, landslides and cyclones where the majority of small businesses experienced a slow recovery. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to gain insight into the perceived barriers and challenges that small business owners in the City of Negombo (Sri Lanka) experienced when developing a disaster/emergency preparedness plan as well as factors that may motivates small businesses owners to adopt a disaster/emergency plan. The study population consists of all 1,780 small businesses located within the city of Negombo, Sri Lanka. The purposive sample included 16 small business owners for individual interviews and 11 members from business associations for three focus group discussions (each including 3-4 participants). After receiving informed consent, data were collected using semi-structured in-depth interview protocol using open ended interview questions until data saturation occurred. . To mitigate study limitations and enhance credibility of this study; prolonged engagement and persistent observation, peer debriefing, member-checking, and data triangulation, were used. The findings of this study yielded 12 distinct themes most of which were fully or partially supported by existing literature. Five themes pertaining to the barriers and challenges business owners encounter when establishing a disaster/emergency plan: lack of knowledge or know how, access to/ problems with insurance, lack of money and resources, disaster will not happen again, and it is not my responsibility. Four of the themes focused on business owners’ perceived motivators for establishing a disaster/emergency plan: reduce business losses from disasters, train staff to manage crisis situations, business continuation, and save lives. The key recommendations include local and central government authorities, (a) advocate disaster awareness to small business owners, (b) establish mechanisms for small business owners to attain relevant information to prepare for disasters, (c) provide essential resources for the small business owners to set up disaster/emergency plans, and (d) identify ways for business owners to get access to affordable and accessible disaster insurance plans.

Purpose– The assumption that microcredit alone can contribute to worldwide povertyalleviation is debated, the opponents voicing the need of non-credit services in addition togive the poor access to capital. Social intermediation services are argued to be essential inmaking a difference in a time where the impact of microfinance itself has been reappraised inseveral studies. Simultaneously, the shift to commercialization of the industry due to pressureto accomplish self–sustainability is inescapable; concerns over its benefits for the poor ispronounced. Some are suggesting positive effects, others argue there being negative effectsdue to the change in focus. The purpose of this study is to generate knowledge about theinfluence MFIs have in enabling individuals to be microentrepreneurs in Sri Lanka.Design/methodology/approach– This will be accomplished through investigating theconditions and terminology used by MFIs in relation to entrepreneurship and theirrequirements of training. The findings may be used as guidance to other MFIs andstakeholders, both nationally and globally, who wish to engage in this field. The study relieson qualitative methodology where multiple case studies were analyzed and the findings basedon primary data conducted from nine semi-structured interviews. The cases have beenselected according to theoretical sampling.Findings– Based on the findings and theories applied, it can be stated that the ambition of theMFIs in Sri Lanka is to contribute to the microentrepreneurs development. This isaccomplished by giving them microcredit, training and motivation to start a sustainablebusiness and thus rise out of poverty. The findings suggest that the MFIs have an importantrole, but that the responsibility following as a result of their influence is compromised. Theconclusion is that the MFIs do not acknowledge everyone to be entrepreneurs, and are lackingin providing the most optimal training and supply of microfinance services for theirmicroentrepreneurs to succeed. This is limiting the microentrepreneurs progress and excludesan unknown part of potential microentrepreneurs.Originality/value– The findings of this study can help us to understand how MFIs in SriLanka enable or restrict the microentrepreneur because of their expectations and otherconsequences due to the market of microfinance and the fundamental assumptions whichmicrofinance is based on. Our contribution provides context on what conditions andlimitations MFIs create for microentrepreneurs in rising out of poverty with the assistance ofmicrofinance. The findings may be used as guidance to other MFIs and stakeholders, bothnationally and globally, who wish to engage in this field.
Syfte– Antagandet att enbart mikrokredit kan bidra till världsomfattande fattigdomsbekämpningär omdiskuterat. Motståndarna uttrycker behovet av icke-kredittjänster utöver attge tillgång till kapital. Icke-kredittjänster hävdas vara avgörande för att göra skillnad i en tiddå mikrofinansens inverkan har blivit omprövad i flera studier. Samtidigt är övergången tillkommersialisering av mikrofinansindustrin, på grund av påtryckningarna att uppnå finansiellhållbarhet, oundviklig; oro över konsekvenserna av detta för de fattiga är debatterad. Någraredogör för de positiva effekter kommersialisering innebär och andra poängterar de negativakonsekvenserna av att förändra fokus. Syftet med denna studie är att skapa kunskap om detinflytande som mikrofinansinstitut (MFIs) har för att möjliggöra för individer att vara mikroentreprenöreri Sri Lanka.Design/metod/tillvägagångssätt– Detta kommer att åstadkommas genom att undersökavillkoren och terminologin i förhållande till entreprenörskap och MFIs krav på träning förderas mikrolåntagare. Studien bygger på en kvalitativ metod där flera fallstudier haranalyserats och resultaten är baserade på primära data utifrån nio semistrukturerade intervjuer.Fallen har valts ändamålsenligt enligt ett teoretiskt urval.Slutsatser– Utifrån studiens resultat och teorier kan det konstateras att MFIs ambition i SriLanka är att bidra till utvecklingen av mikroentreprenörer. Det görs genom att ge demmikrokredit, utbildning och motivation för att starta en hållbar inkomstgenererande aktivitetför att ta sig ut ur fattigdom. Resultatet visar på att mikrofinansinstituten har en viktig rollmen att det ansvar som MFIs har som följd av deras inflytande är försummat. Slutsatsen är attmikrofinansinstituten begränsar mikroentreprenörernas framgång och exkluderar en okänd delav potentiella entreprenörer då de inte erkänner alla som entreprenörer. De saknar även denoptimala träningen och utbud av mikrofinanstjänster för att få sina mikroentreprenörer attlyckas.Originalitet/värde– Resultatet av denna studie skapar förståelse för hur MFIs i Sri Lankamöjliggör eller begränsar mikroentreprenörer på grund av deras förväntningar och andraförutsättningar på grund av mikrofinansmarknaden och grundläggande antaganden sommikrofinanskonceptet bygger på. Vårt resultat bidrar till att tydliggöra vilka villkor ochbegränsningar mikrofinansinstituten skapar för mikroentreprenörer i att ta sig ut ur fattigdommed hjälp av mikrokredit. Resultaten kan användas som vägledning till andra MFIs ochintressenter, både nationellt och globalt, som vill engagera sig i detta område.Uppsatsen kommer fortsättningsvis att presenteras på engelska.

ABSTRACT

Internally displaced persons remaining in camps

- who are they, why do they stay?

A case study of internally displaced persons in Sri Lanka

Essay in Political Science C, by Rebecka Johansson, fall 2004

This essay is a case study of internally displaced persons in camps in the district of Vavunyia in northern Sri Lanka. The main question was; Why do some internally displaced persons remain in camps when many displaced people already have settled elsewhere? The aim of this study was to examine why some people stay in camps even after a ceasefire agreement has been signed and though many people already have settled. The literature on solutions of conflict-induced displacement is not conceptually rich or theoretically exact. Therefore this study also tried to make a model for analysing why some individuals remain in camps. The model is based on the political scientist Robert Dahl theories on “political resources”. The concept used in this essay is “personal resources”. The personal resources examined were social situations and land and property ownerships and political and legal rights. The study assumes from the hypothesis that the remaining people in camps lack these personal resources which are of importance for their ability and motivation to settle outside the camps. The personal resources have been divided into structural and agential factors.

The result of this study suggests that the given hypothesis was right; the remaining displaced persons lack most of the examined personal resources. Their social situation was characterised by low status, small social network in the place they fled from, low education and unskilled work. A majority of the displaced who remained in the camps were landless. Until recently their legal right to choose settlement was restricted. The only personal resource that the majority of the displaced possessed was the political right to vote. The lack of personal resources affects both the displaced persons’ ability and motivation to find a durable solution.

Worthy to note is that it is impossible to draw clear distinctions between what is to be seen as agential and structural factors. Landlessness which in the introduction was categorised as a structural factor was proved to also constitute an agential factor as it affects people’s motivation to return.

The study shows that the circumstances surrounding internally displaced persons are complex and constitute many obstacles to their possibility to find permanent settlements. The most obvious factors, like not having any place to return to and deprivation of the legal rights of choice of settlement, can be the most important explanations.

The objective of this thesis is to analyse whether Sri Lanka could have avoided the civil war, if changes in the constitution, from 1948 to 1978, offered a political structure guaranteeing the minority rights. Furthermore, the thesis intends to study if the Swiss and Lebanese political models could offer any guidelines for the Sri Lankan conflict.

The stated purpose of the thesis is studied by analysing official documents, literatures and articles. The finding of the study is that Sri Lanka might have prevented the civil war if the constitutional arrangements had guaranteed the minority rights.

The Sri Lankan conflict is a unique case, which probably requires its own resolution model. The Swiss and Lebanese models may be applicable in the Sri Lankan case to some extent. However, a possible solution that could prevent the current political and ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, by avoiding another fatal civil war, is to establish power-sharing political arrangements, under a federal state. Whether or not Sri Lanka can achieve a sustainable peace is a question of political willingness.

The objective of the thesis is to study the Sri Lankan negotiation process during 2000-2006 sponsored by the Norwegian facilitation and further to analyse the major constraints hin-dering a final solution.

The stated purpose is analysed by studying both primary and secondary materials such as official documents, research and newspaper articles. One of the major findings of the thesis is that the Norwegian facilitation has not been very effective mainly due to both domestic and international political developments in recent years. In the case of domestic politics, the Sri Lankan political arena has a tradition of political crisis which is mainly a result of the two major Sinhalese parties fighting for power. These parties have been blocking any sus-tainable solution for Tamil demands while focusing on their political power.

Furthermore, international attitudes towards the warring parties are found to have had a huge impact on the Sri Lankan peace process during the studied period. Since one of the major constraints in the negotiation process appears to be that the Government of Sri Lanka seems to have adopted the international “realpolitik” on its domestic issue in the name of the war on terror. This political strategy may further inflate the already existing na-tionalism among the Sinhalese majority and the Tamil minority and thus may intensify the conflict.

The continuing disadvantage that poor and marginalized communities face in low-income countries is well recognized but international initiatives and government policies still fall short of providing sustainable quality education. The recently published Global Monitoring Report 2013 – 2014 “Teaching and Learning: Achieving Quality for All” recommends strategies for solving the quality crisis through attracting the best teachers, getting them where they are most needed and providing incentives to retain them. Few would dispute these strategies but their achievement is problematic, given the vastness of the challenge in a financially constrained global environment. This study is predicated on the acknowledgement that the strategies proposed provide too narrow a focus and that poor quality education is also due to contextual factors that have been relatively ignored. These contextual factors are investigated through this research. This research study explores community perceptions of school benefits as a lens through which to engage with marginalized rural communities' conceptualization of “quality” education. It utilizes Tikly and Barrett's (2011) framework for analysing quality education with its three key dimensions of inclusion, relevance and democracy. It investigates the factors and processes that are shaping perceptions of benefits within the three environments of policy-making, school and community. The research study uses a qualitative methodology, employing a critical stance, but engaging also with the insights of Bourdieu and Foucault viewing power as both repressive and productive. This research engages with the “regimes of truth” that have constrained social action as well as the process of discourse deconstruction and reconstruction that has shaped agency and facilitated social change. This is a multiple case study of four rural primary schools in marginalized communities in Sindh, Pakistan (two opened in 2002, two in 2007), using purposive sampling to maximize data heterogeneity. Data, mostly qualitative, was generated from semi-structured interviews with community leaders, school management committee members, parents and teachers. Focus groups were conducted with school graduates and teachers. Photographs were used as a participatory tool to facilitate interview and focus group discussions. The findings indicate that context-led policy, contextualized teacher training, pedagogy and curriculum and community leadership that facilitates agency are the key factors shaping perceptions of benefits. Emerging from these factors is both the employment of local teachers who can experience a transformational process that enables them to bring social change and a dynamic interaction between pedagogy and benefits. Positional benefits are highly valued with social skills being key to the development of social capital, which the findings indicate should be included in the discourse of “quality” education. The study provides empirical data demonstrating how the recent theoretical frameworks for quality education are being “fleshed out” in specific contexts and addresses issues raised in quality debates. It makes recommendations for the complementary role of non-government schools in the post-2015 EFA strategy and the provision of quality education in hard to reach areas characterized by poverty and marginalization in the global South.

This thesis explores the development of a multi-stakeholder partnership model using a multiple case study research design. Specifically this study examines the rationale for the launch of the Rajasthan Education initiative, its development and its impact on educational development and reaches conclusions about the scalability and sustainability of multistakeholder partnerships (MSPs) in the context of Rajasthan. The literature review shows that there is insufficient independent research evidence to support the widespread claims that public private partnerships (PPPs), of which MSP is a new ‘avatar', are able to deliver results in terms of developmental gains and added value. This paucity of evidence and profusion of claims is partly explained by the fact, that the research that has been commissioned is not independent and its conclusions have been shaped by vested interests of those promoting the organisations they claim to evaluate. In particular organisations associated with the World Economic Forum (WEF) have been projecting PPPs and programmes of corporate responsibility as a way to engage for-profit organisations and enhance the effectiveness of external support for the delivery of services to basic education. Alongside this not-for-profit PPPs are seldom scrutinised in terms of public accountability, value for money, scalability, or sustainability partly due to the voluntary nature of such inputs to the public system. I believe my research makes a new and unique contribution to the independent evaluation of state enabled, not-for-profit MSPs in action. The research selected eight formal partnerships for case study which were selected using a matrix of organisational characteristics, scale and scope of interventions. The case studies are organised into four thematic groups i.e, School adoption, ICT based interventions, teachers' training and universalisation of elementary education in underserved urban localities. Each case study is examined using a framework which highlights three dimensions. These are i) the design of the partnership, ii) stakeholder involvement and intra agent dynamics and iii) the Governance of the partnership. A cross case analysis of the eight partnerships is used to arrive at conclusions about MSPs in Rajasthan. This uses the concept of double contingency of power (Sayer 2004), and specifically the concept of causal power and causal susceptibilities and Stake's (2006) multiple case analysis, to discuss the commonalities and differences across partnerships and emerging themes while cross analysing the partnerships. I have engaged in interpretivist inquiry and sought to understand the workings of an MSP which involves businesses and CSR groups alongside NGOs and government agencies with an aim to place Rajasthan on a fast development track. Rather than looking for an ideal type MSP, I problematise the MSPs in Rajasthan as I explain the workings of an MSP model in action. Given this methodological perspective, I have used semi structured interviews, observations of the partnership programmes in action, and document analysis as methods to collect and corroborate data for this study. The study concludes that the exiting MSP arrangements in REI are not scalable, unsustainable and have very limited impact. Moreover, the MSPs are unstable and reflect fluid inter-organisational evolution, as well as ambiguous public accountability. There was no purposeful financial management at the REI management level. In addition the exit routes for partners supporting interventions were not planned, resulting in the fading away of even those interventions that showed promise in accruing learning gains for children, and by schools and teachers. Non-scalability and lack of sustainability can be inferred from the fact that the partners do not have a long term view of interventions, lack sustained commitment for resource input and the interventions are implemented with temporary work force. The instability of the partnerships can be explained through the absence of involvement of government teachers and communities. Also economic and political power dominated the fate of the programmes. In this MSP it was clear that corporate social responsibility (CSR) was a driving force for establishing the MSP but was not backed by continued and meaningful engagement. The ‘win-win' situation of greater resources, efficiency and effectiveness, which formed the basic premise for launching the REI was not evident in reality. MSPs are gaining currency globally. This research points to the fact that much more intentional action needs to be taken to ensure that partnerships such as these have a sustained impact on development. The problems and issues of education are historically, politically and socially embedded. Any action that does not take this into account and which is blind to the interests of different stakeholders in MSPs, will surely fall short of achieving what it set out to do. Further independent research examining the ambitions and realities of other MSPs is needed to inform policy development and implementation. This is essential for achieving the goals of education for all before investing further in what appears to be a flawed modality to improve access, equity and outcomes in education.

The thoughts and theories regarding the command of the sea were written down during the last century. In the aftermath of WW2, marine strategists were less comfortable about using the phrase command of the sea which now seemed to be too absolutist in tone. This resulted in a new phrase which had a less ambitious tone the phrase control of the sea became more acceptable and even though the main difference is that control of the sea is applicable under a certain time and place, the main thought is still the same.   The question then that should be asked is: are these old theories regarding the battle of the seas still applicable today? The battlefield has certainly changed since then, particularly regarding the development of military technology but also regarding what kind of foe the navies of today meet.   This is the issue that this paper aims to address by studying the civil war in Sri Lanka with focus on what took place between the Sri Lankan navy and the sea tigers of LTTE. The study will be done by using Geoffrey Tills theories about control of the sea as a lens and a means to decipher what occurred during this time.   This study shows that the theory of control of the sea played a part of the Sri Lankan navy’s ability to defeat the sea tigers and by doing so contributed to ending of the almost three century long conflict.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2006.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 135-152).
Also available by subscription via World Wide Web
xiv, 104 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

A large and important proportion of coconut area of Sri Lanka is owned and operated by smallholder farmers. Low productivity and resource use are common features of these farms and ways to improve productivity and farm income rest largely on efficient utilization of existing resources, basically land and labour, since no expansion of the farm area is possible. Since large proportions of land are underutilized under coconut monoculture systems, the expansion of multiple enterprise farming systems in coconut associations would be a useful approach to improve the productive capacity of these farms. This study aims to identify and describe existing farming practices on the small farms in the Matara district of Southern Sri Lanka, and to evaluate alternative multiple enterprise farm models to suit the constraints of the cropping calendars and the resource base. Data on 270 farms were collected in 1982, and are analysed in this study. This is followed by whole farm planning using Linear Programming(Lp). The model considers the farm household as a production-cum-consumption unit with a common resource base at their disposal and involving in a variety of enterprises. Prior to development and evaluation of alternate cropping patterns using LP, the relevance of the Farming System Approach to the present study is discussed and the study area is then introduced. The present structure of the small farms are examined and the farms are classified based on the resource endowments and the current cropping patterns. The survey reveals that these small farmers are involved in multiple enterprise farming systems with coconut as a major but not the sole concern. Different farm types are identified based on the component structures, namely: lowland, upland and homegarden. The three component farm type were the most widespread and appear to have the highest potential for improvement. Wherever lowland rice is found as a component of these systems, the activities of the seasonal cropping calendar are dominated by the rice except in the case of larger holdings where more systematic cultivation is carried out using hired labour, for market production. Present utilization of coconut lands is limited to occasional instances of systematic cultivation of intercrops, such as cinnamon and banana, while a fair proportion of farmers practice some form of mixed culture where unorganised, indiscriminately planted crop combinations, including perennial, semi-perennial and annual crops are grown. These are typically cultivated on a small area surrounding the homestead whilst a significant proportion of the area among coconuts is grossly underutilized. The area planted to intercrops does not appear to vary as farm size increases. Thus the absolute area under intercrops remains the same on most farms. The LP analyses demonstrates that the major obstacle for system improvement in these farms is closely related to the farm size. While the smaller farms suffer from the limitations of available capital budget for farm improvement, the larger farmers find difficulties due to restrictions in available labour during peak periods. The mid size farms too appear to suffer from capital limitation, but are better off than their smaller counterparts. The optimal crop mix changes with the capital availability in the models and certain farm areas are not brought into the plan in the larger farms due to limitation in available family labour. Pepper and vegetables enter the plan as intercrops under low levels of capital availability, while banana dominates the crop mix as the capital restraints are relaxed. The intertemporal LP approach appear to have useful applications in selecting appropriate crop mixes to suit the farm endowments. However, the need to evaluate a wider range of enterprises, including livestock management options, before farm level recommendations could be made is highlighted. Furthermore, this study establishes the importance of considering the whole farm unit in planning and extension, rather than concentrating on particular crops or enterprises.

In the wake of the rapid evolution of information technology (IT), including the internet, during the last three decades, much attention has been given to the introduction of IT to the agricultural sector, and to ensuring its adoption by farmers. Given its apparent ability to provide rich information to a large number of people, hopes have been raised about the role of IT as a tool for diffusing innovations in the agricultural sector. This thesis addresses the reality of such a role in Australia and Sri Lanka. Following the broader innovation literature, an innovations systems approach is used, and the key aspects of diffusion stressed are reach, richness and the time taken. The agricultural innovation system (AIS) is seen as a complex interactive system involving actors fulfilling eleven functions – policy, education, finance and credit, marketing, input supply, research, extension and information, logistics, processing and storage, farmers and farm organisations, and consumers. It is clear that the Australian AIS is more effective than its Sri Lankan counterpart in terms of its use of leading-edge technologies, competition in global markets with innovative products, and quick diffusion of research findings to farmers. The use of IT in agribusiness in Australia is quite advanced, although still limited in small firms. While there are many examples of the use of IT for innovation diffusion in Australian agriculture, there is little evidence that this is yet a widely used process for the spread of innovations. The situation in Sri Lanka is quite different, with low levels of computer literacy and usage in the farm sector, with technology transfer ‘across the last mile’ remaining the weakest link in the Sri Lankan AIS. But farmers often go to great efforts to obtain better information, and much attention is being given by the Government and NGOs to the development of wireless networks, telecentres and other methods for promoting IT access and knowledge diffusion in the rural sector in Sri Lanka. Given the heterogeneous nature of the actors in an AIS, together with the importance of tacit knowledge and social and peer groups factors, IT will complement existing methods of innovation diffusion for the foreseeable future, rather than substitute them. Nevertheless, IT is likely to become increasingly important in innovation diffusion in agriculture, in both developed countries and in developing economies such as Sri Lanka. In implementing policies to this end, Sri Lanka must give due attention to the complex interactions between the many players in the AIS, to the role of tacit knowledge and social actors, and to the low level of the IT literacy in the rural sector. While continuing efforts to build relevant infrastructure are essential, these must be supported by measures to strengthen communication between the actors in the AIS, by education and capability development for farmers and by the creation of suitably tailored digital information packages on key issues.