Abstract:
The global demand for floriculture products is at a rise as the flower consumption is ever increasing. It has been identified that the floriculture trade in Sri Lanka is significantly contributing to the both export and domestic market. The floriculture sector generates more opportunities that people can engage in as self-employment. Western, North-western, and Central provinces of Sri Lanka are identified as the major contributors of the industry. Polonnaruwa (North-central province) is identified as a key location that supplied specific floriculture products to the domestic market. As identified, the main issue was the lack of details of the growers and products in many locations that cater strongly to the local market.This study was carried out to identify the present status of the domestic floriculture industry in Polonnaruwa under categories of growers, market, high demanded plant species and current issues. Primary data were collected from purposefully-selected 80 ornamental plant growers in the Polonnaruwa District through a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire and observing the field operations, whereas secondary data were collected from research articles, ITC reports and publications on websites. Data were analyzed using MINITAB 19 statistical analysis software. Results revealed that, the most of the growers were of the age range 45-55 which was 46% of the total. There was no association between education level and monthly sales of the growers. Further no association between sales upon business age, land size, fertilizer type, and formal training of the farmers was present. Bougainvillaea (Bougainvillea spp.), Ivata (Wrighita antidysenterica), Christina (Syzygium campanulatum), Hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis), Ixora (Ixora coccinea), Mandevilla (Mandevilla sanderi) were reported as the highest sales record per month. Among them, Bougainvillaea reported a considerable volume of sales on average 118,390 plants per month by all growers. The most selling pot size was 5½ inches. The main marketing method was interacting with a middle man. As per the respondents, not supplying to the export market was considered as a major issue. Not having a stable price, lack of technical knowledge, pests and diseases, lack of growing media were the other issues faced by growers. Adopting modern techniques, establishing more floriculture villages and requesting government support for current issues were the suggested solutions.
