Floriculture is a flourishing industry in Sri Lanka with a great potential in both domestic and export market. Street and mobile flower vending is a micro enterprise which is not a negligible portion of floriculture sector in the country. Present study was conducted to investigate the constraints faced by street and mobile flower vendors and to understand their willingness to adopt those challenges. Randomly selected 40 flower vendors from Galle, Matara and Hambantota districts were interviewed using a semi structured questionnaire by visiting them at their marketing sites such as streets, week fairs and “Kaprukawaruna” exhibitions conducted by Coconut Cultivation Board, Matara. According to the findings, majority of the respondents engage in the business as a full time employment and 43.3% of the vendors sell plants grown in their own nurseries. Apart from the flowering and ornamental plants, they sell fertilizers, coir dust and coconut husk pieces and product diversification has a significant impact (p=0.016) on their monthly income. Average nursery size was found to be 500ft2 where average income was noted as 200 USD. Among the vendors 70% use their own money to refinance the business. Majority of the respondents (60%) were members of different flower grower societies. Vendors (87.5%) sell their products targeting week fairs and (62.5%) sell their products beside the streets in temporary fixed huts. Not having an authorized place to market their goods was identified as the major problem by 85% of the respondents. Majority of the vendors (62.5%) were willing to expand the business while 42.5% identified this as a profitable venture to invest. According to the binary logistic regression results, age (p=0.000), education level (p=0.001), economic status (p=0.057), nursery size (p=0.004) and credit accessibility (p=0.024) were positively related with their willingness to adopt for the challenges they face. It is concluded that following key actions must be taken to strengthen the street and mobile flower vendors for their further empowerment: Provision of proper authorized sites of operation, improve the market credit and other infrastructure facilities and more training opportunities.

Evolvulus alsinoides Linn (Vishnukranthi) is a multipurpose medicinal herb used to treat various ailments in traditional Ayurveda medicine. Less availability of quality planting materials exist as a major bottleneck for its commercial scale cultivation. Therefore, a series of experiments were undertaken to evaluate the most promising media for seed and vegetative propagation of Evolvulus alsinoides. Seed viability was tested by Tetrazolium test (TZ test). Suitable seed germination media was tested using seed trays filled with eight potting mixtures in a completely randomized design with five replicates. The effect of auxin (Indole Acetic Acid (IAA) and Indole Butyric Acid (IBA) at 3000 ppm) and rooting media on soft wood and semi hardwood cuttings of Evolvulus alsinoides was tested. Data were analyzed using ANOVA with a statistical analysis system at 5% significance level, and means were separated using Duncan Multiple Range Test. TZ test exhibited the seed viability percentage as 87%. Early and significantly (P≤0.05) higher seed germination (79%) was observed in the soil: sand (1:1) nursery media. Sand was the best media to propagate stem cuttings of E. alsinoides. The highest plant height of 20.3 cm was observed with IBA treated top wood cuttings. Semi hardwood cuttings treated with IAA reported the best performance in terms of number of leaves, number of branches, shoot dry weight, root dry weight and whole plant dry weight of E. alsinoides. Therefore, seed germination in soil: sand (1:1) media and semi hardwood cuttings established in sand media treated with 3000 ppm of IAA were most suitable for propagation of E. alsinoides in mass scale. Potential farmers could easily adopt these findings for cultivation of this valuable medicinal plant.

Santalum album L. is a hemiparasitic tree that requires parasitism of host plants in three stages, where the primary host at the nursery stage is critical. The effects of six legume species (Desmodium triflorum, Mimosa pudica, Alysicarpus vaginalis, Crotalaria retusa, Vigna radiata and Crotalaria juncea) and two non-legume species (Alternanthera sessilis and Tagetes erecta) were investigated to select the most promising pot host for sandalwood in the nursery stage. Each host plant was established in 10 poly bags with four plants/bag, in a completely randomized design. When host plants are one month old, 45-day-old S. album seedling per bag was introduced. After six months the number of leaves, seedling height (cm), dry weight (g), root collar diameter (mm), root length (cm), the number of root interactions were recorded and sturdiness quotient (SQ) and quality index (QI) were calculated. S. album seedlings grown with C. retusa had a significantly (P ≤ 0.05) higher number of leaves (26), taller (32.4 cm) and higher root collar diameter (7.5 mm), followed by seedlings grown with M. pudica. The highest SQ (5.18) of S. album seedlings grown with M. pudica implies lower growth and survival in the field. Nonlegumes produced taller seedlings than legume hosts except for M. pudica and C. retusa. Sandalwood seedlings with C. retusa had the significantly highest number of (P ≤ 0.05) root interactions (38), tallest shoot (3.3 g), greatest root dry weight (1.1 g), highest QI (0.58) and shortest root length (13 cm). C. retusa was identified as the preferred host for S. album at the nursery stage.

Dracaena sanderiana is an in-demand cut foliage plant belongs to family Agavaceae. Dracaena varieties are commercially produced in export-oriented large scale plantations in Sri Lanka. The crop is mainly cultivated in the wet zone due to the favourable growth conditions which enhance the export quality characteristics of the plant. The climatic conditions in the dry zone is also favourable for its growth under appropriate conditions. But the supply of the crop still falls short of the demand. A survey was conducted to identify possibilities of introducing Dracaena as a future commercial foliage to the Hambantota district. Randomly selected 40 flower growers from selected divisional secretariat divisions (DSD) in Hambantota were interviewed administrating a pre-tested questionnaire during early 2022. Data were subjected to a percentage analysis while descriptive statistical methods were used to represent the results using Microsoft Excel. According to the survey, bulk of them (60%) continue floriculture business as a full time employment. Middle aged women work in floriculture enterprises in large numbers. The majority of responders (70%), are willing to incorporate Dracaena as a fresh floriculture produce for their nurseries. Fifty percent of them have additional land with natural shade up to 0.25 acres, which is possible to utilize for Dracaena cultivation with proper intervention. Sixty percent of them stated that they prefer to train on value addition of Dracaena plants by knitting. Fifteen percent (15%) of them possess shade net houses and other infrastructure in place. An export-oriented Dracaena producer society in Beliatta DSDs is ready to impart its knowledge and offer advice to novice producers. The need of marketing the products collectively to reduce transportation costs is understood by the respondents. The initial investments on growth structures and irrigation pose a significant challenge. A majority of growers (70%) anticipate receiving financial assistance from the government. A lack of awareness of the crop, low availability of planting materials, high transportation costs along with high prices of fertilizer and fungicides in the markets were other challenges. It is necessary to provide finance support, trading facilities, production aid, and awareness and training initiatives to introduce D. sanderiana as a lucrative crop for the Hambantota district. Keywords: Challenges; Dracaena sanderiana; Dry zone; Hambantota; Potentials

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