With the development of agronomic protocols to cultivate rubber in the prevailing conditions in the Eastern province and identification of land availability, the

Rubber cultivation in Sri Lanka is in the expansion process to drier non-traditional areas to cater the demand. Having sufficient lands and then with additional objective of improving rural livelihood, Eastern and Northern region of Sri Lanka has been targeted for this expansion. With the initial success in the intermediate zone of Eastern province, rubber was introduced to the dry zone in Vavuniya district for the first time in 2010. However, no information was available on its potential expansion and factors to be considered. Therefore, this study was aimed to address this need through a detailed analysis on Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) for rubber cultivation in Vavuniya. Collection of secondary data and farmer workshops for SWOT analyses were tools of the study. Despite the availability of lands, farmers in Vavuniya-North had limited access to lands. Prospective stability in income was the opportunity expected by farmers from rubber cultivation. As a realistic target; cultivating 4,000 ha of rubber in Vavuniya district is proposed with the concept of "one family one hectare of rubber". Factors to be considered in allocating lands for rubber, a protocol for its expansion and needs for future studies are also discussed.

The adoption of recommended practices in agriculture boosts production and thereby increases farmer income. It ensures that scarce resources are optimally utilized. Awareness and perception of recommendations are precursors to adoption in the rubber smallholder sector. This research tested the causal links between awareness, perception and adoption. Data were collected using a pretested questionnaire covering four rubber growing districts. Three indices were developed for awareness, perception and adoption. Three behavioral equations were developed to estimate the relationship between awareness, perception and adoption and they were simultaneously estimated using a three stage least square technique. Results revealed that awareness of recommendations significantly influences perception and the perception in turn significantly influences adoption and therefore, the link between these was clear. The role of extension effort is significant in creating awareness while peer effect and human capital significantly assist in formation of favorable perception on technologies.

In view of supporting the rubber product manufacturing sector in Sri Lanka and providing stable income for the peasant community, rubber cultivation is in the process of expanding to the drier regions of the country. Under this programme, rubber was introduced to the Northern region (Dry Zone) in 2010 with a tentative set of agronomic protocols. The present study showed that rubber cultivated in this region under smallholder conditions together with irrigated short term crops, has shown reasonable growth with an average annual girth expansion rate of 8.6cm. A growth curve for the immature phase of rubber was established for the first time for the dry zone of Sri Lanka. Despite some adverse effects of dry weather on photosynthesis and associated physiological parameters, no evidence of permanent damages to photosynthetic apparatus was recorded. Further actions to be taken in the expansion process of rubber cultivation in this region are also discussed.

7 study, it is concluded that this industry provides vast opportunity for further exploiting labour force in respect to production of beverage, sugar, alcohol, fibre, fuel wood, timber and row materials for handicrafts. As well as this study clearly stated that implementing innovative technologies with product diversification and opening new market channels are the necessary pre requisite of this industry in future.