http://repo.lib.sab.ac.lk:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/577 Wed, 08 Apr 2026 01:48:27 GMT 2026-04-08T01:48:27Z http://repo.lib.sab.ac.lk:8080/xmlui/handle/susl/2609 Sabaragamuwa University Journal Fri, 01 Dec 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://repo.lib.sab.ac.lk:8080/xmlui/handle/susl/2609 2006-12-01T00:00:00Z http://repo.lib.sab.ac.lk:8080/xmlui/handle/susl/2608 Sabaragamuwa University Journal Fri, 01 Dec 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://repo.lib.sab.ac.lk:8080/xmlui/handle/susl/2608 2006-12-01T00:00:00Z http://repo.lib.sab.ac.lk:8080/xmlui/handle/susl/2607 Commercialization of Agriculture and Role of Agricultural Extension Mahaliyanaarachchi, Rohana P; Bandara, R. M. A. S. Today commercialization of agriculture is an inevitable reality throughout the whole world. There are a number of factors affecting the commercialization process in agriculture. Some of them could be named as rapid growth of economies in the both developing and developed countries, introducing of new technologies, market expansion, market,liberalization, urbanization, rapid increase of demand for food, decreasing of farming population, liberalized and open economic policies, bilateral and multilateral economic agreements, developed infrastructure facilities in farming areas and govemment agricultural policies. However, commercialization in agriculture is not a new phenomenon and it is not a surprise to the farming community. Since the nineteen fifties, farmers in most of the countries have moved towards commercial agriculture. Their major objective was surplus production aiming market prospects. Agricultural extension plays a major role in agricultural production. Role of agricultural extension in a commercialized agricultural system is different from such Service in subsistence farming system. In the commercialized agriculture the extension Service will mainly concentrate on the resourceful big farmers, with favorable environmental conditions and higher sodo-economic status. Under the commercialized agriculture the number of farmers is to be reduced and the size of the farm land should be increased. This is a generally accepted concept in commercial agriculture. Do we have to accept this concept under each and every situation? We think the answer is “no”. By using improved technologies farmers can move towards commercial agriculture without considering the size of land. Under protected agriculture, farmers fbllow concepts of the commercial agriculture. Commercial livestock farming does not rely on the farm size except diary farming. However, the role of agricultural extension in the commercialized agricultural system is mainly dependent on the type and way of commercialization in a given society. We have to expect that agricultural extension Services are supposed to fulfill many aims, from reducing rural poverty and improved livelihoods for rural households to increasing the overall production and contributing to foreign exchange earnings from exports. But the level and percentage of this contribution may vary from one situation to another. Fri, 01 Dec 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://repo.lib.sab.ac.lk:8080/xmlui/handle/susl/2607 2006-12-01T00:00:00Z http://repo.lib.sab.ac.lk:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/804 Diversity, Threats and Conservation of Herpetofauna in and around the Eastern Sinharaja Surasinghe, Thilina D; Jayaratne, Ravindra L The Eastern Sinharaja is a moist montane tropical forest that falls within the Rakwana mountain range and is 30km2 in area. Eastern Sinharaja is the home for many threatened endemic herpetofauna where seven species of anuran amphibians three agamids, one species of gecko are known to be spot endemics where all of them are considered to be critically endangered. The eastern Sinharaja is confronting different degrees of threats due to human disturbances including deforestation and habitat destruction due to cardamom and tea cultivation, the land degradation as a result of Illegal gem mining, extraction of forest resources, illicit timber felling, collection of non-woody products, wild cardamom, medicinal plants and firewood, setting fire to the forest and grasslands and the excessive usage of pesticides in plantations. The relative abundances of the above mentioned endemic herpetofauna is significantly low. Therefore it is assumed that the population size of these species is extremely low. Having a small land area, where the primary forest vegetation is rapidly declining, the herpetofaual populations are facing an imminent threat. Therefore, immediate conservation actions are recommended. Specific attention must be paid over restoration of regarded areas with native fast growing forest species and establishment of habitat corridors to bridge the neighboring forest patches to yield space and resources to sustain the minimum viable populations. Establishment of a buffer is imperative to mediate the human impacts. The landowners must be encouraged to adopt agro-forestry practices instead of monocultures like tea/cardamom plantation, allowing establishment of small populations of herpatofauna in those agroforestry plots adjoining the reserve. Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://repo.lib.sab.ac.lk:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/804 2006-01-01T00:00:00Z