Volume:3, Issue:2 - 2021

Estimating Socio-Cultural Services of Coastal Wetlands: A Case of Negombo Lagoon in Sri Lanka

2025-10-10T04:45:31Z

Estimating Socio-Cultural Services of Coastal Wetlands: A Case of Negombo Lagoon in Sri Lanka Guruge, T.P.S.R.; Jayasinghe-Mudalige, Udith K.; Premarathne, S.P.; Weerakoon, D. Knowledge on social and cultural systems is essential for comprehensive understanding of ecosystem changes, monitoring biodiversity, development and implementation of resource management strategies. Social values of coastal landscapes reveal the attributes of locations and their relative importance for people. Aim of the study was to evaluate the cultural services and derive the monetary value of social landscape through valuing socio-cultural services of Negombo lagoon. A discrete choice experiment approach was used to estimate the individual’s preference towards social landscape by incorporating featured attributes. The individual preference was expressed through the marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) by integrating a monetary attribute into choice sets. Thus, the MWTP or the implicit price of social landscape attributes included in the choice task was estimated and then the total social landscape value was derived as 13,055 LKR per monthly per household. The social landscape values of Negombo lagoon demonstrated the important ecological, and socio-cultural knowledge, which should be integrated as guiding policies in ecosystem conservation and management strategies. Further, the challenging management paradigm for coastal and marine landscape of Negombo lagoon, and associated services should contain not only the biological and physical benefits but also socio- cultural values too.

Impact of Adoption of Sustainable Agricultural Practices on Household Food Security in Small-scale Paddy-Cattle Farming Systems in Anuradhapura District, Sri Lanka

2025-10-10T03:10:23Z

Impact of Adoption of Sustainable Agricultural Practices on Household Food Security in Small-scale Paddy-Cattle Farming Systems in Anuradhapura District, Sri Lanka Dissanayake, S.P.; Gunaratne, L.H.P.; Sivanathewerl, T.; Ginigaddara, G.A.S. The Paddy-Cattle Integrated Farming System (PCIFS) is one of the dominant farming systems in the dry zone, Sri Lanka which contributes to the well-being of small-scale farmers. These systems are subjected to high risk and uncertainty uttered by poor productivity and food insecurity related issues. Hence, the study aimed at investigating the impacts of adoption for sustainable agricultural practices on household food security in PCIFS in Anuradhapura district. A survey was employed to gather data from 300 randomly selected paddy-cattle integrated farmers. Descriptive and regression analysis were used to analyze the data. Farming experience, age of respondents, income from milk, awareness on sustainable agricultural practices, training participation and gender were identified as the factors affecting the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices. Further, household income (p<0.1), age, farming experience, and adoption for sustainable agricultural practices significantly (p<0.05) affected on the Food Consumption Score while household size (p<0.1), access to credits, and adoption for sustainable agricultural practices significantly (p<0.05) influenced the Household Food Insecurity Access Score. The study concludes that the adoption for sustainable agricultural practices ensure sustainable and food secured farming systems in the Anuradhapura district. The results suggest the importance of promoting sustainable agricultural practices among the paddy-cattle integrated farmers.

Impact of Natural Rubber Tire Waste Charcoal on Selected Soil Physical Characteristics of Tea Growing Soils

2025-10-10T04:29:42Z

Impact of Natural Rubber Tire Waste Charcoal on Selected Soil Physical Characteristics of Tea Growing Soils Mendis, A.P.I.; Walpola, B.C.; Kumarasinghe, H.K.M.S. The present study assessed the impact of application of natural rubber tire waste charcoal (NRTWC) on selected physical characteristics of tea cultivated soils which belongs to Red Yellow Podzolic great soil group. Natural rubber tire waste charcoal was applied as a soil amendment at different rates (0%, 1%, 1.6%, 2.2% and 2.8% w/w). Physical attributes of soil; bulk density, particle density, porosity, texture and aggregate stability were assessed at 10 and 20 weeks after application of NRTWC. Natural rubber tire waste charcoal significantly improved physical characteristics of soil by reducing soil bulk density, and increasing particle density, porosity and aggregate stability. Natural rubber tire waste charcoal treated soils showed significantly (p ≤ 0.05) lower bulk densities for the application rates of 2.2% and 2.8% (1.21 and 1.17 gcm-3 respectively) compared to the control (1.39 gcm-3) at 10 weeks after application. Significantly (p ≤ 0.05) lower particle density was observed for the application rate of 2.8% (2.52 gcm-3) than the control at 20 weeks after application. The increased porosity with time might be attributed to the increased of soil organic matter content with the application of NRTWC. The highest porosity change was observed at 1 % treatment (from 44.9% to 48.8%) and the lowest was at 2.8% (from 49.4% to 56.3%). Despite no significant (p ≥ 0.05) difference was reported in particle size distribution in soil treated with NRTWC, there was a noticeable decreased in sand percentage and increased in either silt or clay percentages at 20 weeks after application. Soil aggregate stability was found to be significantly increased (p ≤ 0.05) in all treatments at 10 and 20 weeks after NRTWC application compared to the control. However, further investigations are needed before recommending the addition of NRTWC as an amendment to tea growing soils

Design, Development and Performance Evaluation of a Seed Paddy Cleaning Machine

2025-10-10T03:30:59Z

Design, Development and Performance Evaluation of a Seed Paddy Cleaning Machine Kahandage, P.D.; Weerasooriya, G.V.T.V.; Ranasinghe, V.P.; Kosgollegedara, E.J.; Piyathissa, S.D.S. Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the staple food crop in Sri Lanka occupying 34% of the total cultivated area. Seed paddy production is one of the major economic activities in the paddy sector, which is fully mechanized only at the large-scale level. Unavailability of an affordable mechanical solution is a big barrier for entering small and medium scale producers in to the seed paddy industry. Therefore, the aim of this study was to introduce an efficient and affordable electrical motor driven small or medium scale paddy cleaning machine for seed paddy production. The main components of the machine are paddy sieving unit, blowing unit and stone separator. According to the variety of paddy, the sieve size of the sieving unit can be changed. The performance of the machine was evaluated using paddy samples with purposely added light and heavy impurities such as straw particles and different sized stones. The suitable speeds for the better operation of sieve, separator and blower were 90, 200 and 960 rpm, respectively. The separation percentages of the large, light, and same size impurities were 96%, 74%, and 86%, respectively. The effective capacity of the machine was 252 kgh-1 with 79% mechanical efficiency. Based on the overall satisfactory performance, the newly built paddy cleaning machine can be recommended to small and medium scale paddy farmers in Sri Lanka. The machine can be further developed with a magnetic separator for removing iron particles.