Impact of Sustainable Practices and Government support on the Performance of Smallholder Tea Farmers in Rathnapura District

Abstract

Tea is one of the most popular and affordable beverages globally, and in Sri Lanka, it serves as a major export commodity that significantly contributes to the national economy, ensrues employment for a large segment of the population, and benefits from government support and the adoption of sustainable cultivation practices. Smallholder tea estate owners manage approximately 600/o of the country's tea land, accounting for about 70oh of total tea production. However, these smallholders often rely on traditional farming methods, which can limit both productivity and sustainability. Despite these challenges, the role in the local economy and rural development remains crucial. This study aims to explore how govemment support and sustainable practices influence the performance of smallholdertea estate owners in the Rathnapura district. A sample of 105 smallholders was selected through simple random sampling, and data were collected using a pre-tested structured questionnaire. The data were analyzedwith SPSS version 24, applying descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis. Demographic analysis revealed that 5_7.Ioh of the farmers were over 50 years old, 82.9o/o had a secondary education, and 53.3o/o of the respondents relied solely on tea cultivation for income, while 46.7% of respondents had other ways of income. The regression analysis explaine d 32.1% of the variance in performance, with an adjusted R-square of 0.566, suggesting a good fit. The results showed that sustainable agricultural practices (p:0.207), access to information and technology (p:0.079), land size 0:0.028), type of involvement in tea cultivation (p:0.039), marital status (p:0.059), age $:0.690) and gender (p:0.299) affected positively and negatively on the performance. Land size and the type of involvement in tea are identified as the most significant variables in this model, with land size having a positive impact on the outcome and tea involvement negatively affecting it, while other factors such as age, gender, and income do not have a notable effect.