A STUDY ON THE ENTREPRENEURIAL ABILITY OF CINNAMON FARMERS IN KAMBURUPITIYA DS DIVISION IN MATARA DISTRICT, SRI LANKA

Abstract

A study on the entrepreneurial behavior of cinnamon farmers in the Kamburupitiya Divisional Secretariat division of Matara district was caried out from February to March 2023.By following a random sampling procedure, 100 cinnamon farmers were selected, and a structured interview schedule was used to collect the information through personal interviews. Data were analyzed using frequencies, percentages, correlation and chi-square analysis with the SPSS package. The study's important findings were that most (68%) cinnamon farmers had medium entrepreneurial ability. The personal and socio-economic characteristics of cinnamon farmers revealed that the majority (57%) were male, more than half of them (54%) belonged to the young adults (below 47 years) age category, and 58 % were educated in the primary level. The majority (41%) of the respondents depended mainly on labor occupation. More than half of the respondents (54%) had land size less than 1 acre. Most (76%) of respondents obtained middle income (between Rs.20000 50000) from cinnamon cultivation, and 70% of cinnamon farmers received more than Rs.50000 from cinnamon plantation annually. A total number of respondents belonged to 61% of self-owned land. Less than half (38%) of the cinnamon farmers had four members in their family size, and the majority (52%) had below ten years of experience in cinnamon cultivation. Most farmers (51%) produced less than 250 kg per year and 50% of farmers' cost of cultivation between RS. 10000 to 50000. A majority (57%) of the respondents had high social participation. The majority (88%) of the respondents had low extension participation, while 79% belonged to low female participation in cinnamon cultivation. The correlation coefficient between education and the decision-making ability of cinnamon farmers was statically significant at 0.421 at the p value= 0.000, and there was a significant positive relationship. A chi-square analysis was carried out to determine the association of independent variables with the entrepreneurial behavior of cinnamon farmers. A positive and significant relationship at 0.01 level of probability was observed between the entrepreneurial behavior of cinnamon farmers and their personal and socio-economic characteristics such as family size, size of land holding, total monthly income, extension participation, and social participation. In contrast, the education of cinnamon farmers showed a positive and significant correlation at 0.05 level of probability with entrepreneurial behaviour. The independent variables' coefficient of determination (SD) was 0.568. Significant constraints faced by cinnamon farmers in the Kamburupitiya division of Matara district were the high cost of fertilizer, fluctuation in the price of cinnamon, uneducated in extension services for cinnamon cultivation and lack of support from the government side for cinnamon cultivation.