Abstract:
Sri Lanka, an island off the coast of Southern India, is heavily dependent on rice and
vegetables as the staple foods for its 19 million people. However, production of rice and
vegetables is largely in the hands of subsistence farmers. Thus to ensure national food
security, eradicate poverty, and promote sustainable development, the government must
pay particular attention to increasing small farmer productivity by encouraging adoption of
modem techniques and technologies of rice and vegetable production. This survey
research of vegetable growers in Welimada Divisional Secretary area in the Badulla District
of Sri Lanka, determined farmers' sources of technical information. Source is important
because it is associated with factors such as reliability, availability, timeliness, relevancei
and comprehension of the information. The study found that neighbouring farmers and
farmer organizations were the primary sources of information to vegetable producers.
Newspapers. radio, television and extension workers ranked very low which suggests that
vegetable producers have practically less access to modern technical information. Farmers
also ranked extension workers low in comprehension also implying a need for
communication skills training for these agents. The study found that farmer organizations
provide a more equitable means of disseminating innovative information instead of opinion
leaders, an approach that only makes the information rich, richer.
