The objective of this study was to examine empirically the relationship between productivity and size of coconut lands in Sri Lanka. The primary data collected by means of a field survey conducted by the Coconut Research Institute of Sri Lanka from 69 coconut cultivations located in the Kurunegala, Puttalam and Gampaha districts in 2004/05 were used. These cultivations were categorized into three groups depend on their size, namely: (1) Home gardens [< 2 ac]; (2) Smallholdings [2-20 ac], and (3) Estate sector [> 20 ac]. The empirical model explaining the relationship between productivity and land size and several other variables that can have an impact on productivity (e.g. land suitability class, age of the plantation, number of bearing palms/ac, agro-ecological region, availability of labor and management practices adopted by growers such as fertilizer application, soil and moisture conservation and pest & disease control etc.) was tested. The results of analysis show that there exists a significant negative relationship between land size and productivity of coconut lands in Sri Lanka for home gardens and smallholders. The minimum productive land size was 21 ac, where the estimated productivity was 1 052nuts/ac/year. On the other hand, the productivity of estates increases as the land size increases from 21 ac onwards up to 40 ac. Only the availability of labor was significantly affected on productivity, while the impact of other factors was insignificant in this respect. The results imply that policymakers and regulatory agencies responsible for coconut industry in Sri Lanka must take efforts to secure large estates from unnecessary fragmentation, and fragmentation of smallholding may be allowed if the separated lands are remained predominantly with coconut.

This study evaluates the economic feasibility and biological productivity of coconut-based agroforestry models designed for coconut smallholders. Coconut Research Institute of Sri Lanka has developed and established twenty-six agroforestry models in farmers' fields. Of them, four models were selected for this study. NPVs of agroforestry models were higher than the monocrop, suggesting the higher net worth of the agroforestry models in the long run. Other economic indicators also showed that agroforestry models were more profitable than coconut monoculture. In all models, LER exceeded unity, indicating the yield advantage with agroforestry over coconut monocultures. However, RYT values indicated that there were negative interactions between component crops of certain models, which can be attributed to the competition that occurs between crops.

Scarcity of labour, increased labour charges and shortage of both skilled and unskilled labour have become a major issue for coconut growers. This study aimed to assess the current labour availability in coconut cultivation sector. A field survey was conducted from October to December 2005, focusing four major coconut growing areas in the coconut triangle namely Kurunegala, Kuliyapitiya, Marawila and Gampaha. The findings show that an acute laboure shortage is experienced by 23% and 21% of the respondents in Kuliyapitiya and Gampaha regions respectively. Generally, 65% shortage in Gampaha, 60% in Kuliyapitiya, 50% in Kurunegala and 27% shortage in Marawila were reported. An acute shortage for skilled labour necessary for harvesting was reported in Gampaha and Marawila whereas in other two areas it was for unskilled labour. Irrespective of the region, young generation's participation to the labour force was very poor. Generally, smallholders pay higher wage rates compared to estate sector. Skilled labour is 3 to 4 times highly paid compared to the unskilled labour in each region. In terms of wage rates a statistically significant gender disparity exists in each region favouring male labour. The findings suggest the need of inventing innovative mechanization technology in order to reduce the dependence on manual labour. The cost effectiveness of the mechanization technologies is also highlighted.A deep attitudinal change is a requisite to attract the young generation to cultivation sector and there is a possibility of reintroducing harvesting as a recognized commercial service by a company.

Despite the concerted efforts of successive governments in Sri Lanka to popularize coconut-based intercropping (CBI) systems, an intensive land use alternative to traditional less intensive coconut monocropping, its adoption by farmers is as low as 25% of the agronomically potential area of 100,000 ha. Although the adoption of an innovation is influenced by a range of determinants which can be broadly categorized as technical, economic, institutional and personal/social, economic profitability of the technology itself is one of the key determinants influencing its adoption. This study assesses the economics of widely practiced five different CBI systems vis-a-vis coconut monocropping, employing five economic indicators, namely Total Gross Margin (TGM), Net Present Value (NPV), Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR), returns to labor and returns to capital. Data were collected by a field survey of 113 intercroppers and 37 monocroppers conducted from March to May 1995 in three main coconut growing districts in Sri Lanka, namely: Gampaha; Kurunegala; and, Puttalam. Results revealed that all the CBI systems give higher returns per hectare than coconut monocrops, though some of the indicators, namely BCR and returns to variable costs, are reasonably attractive for monocrop coconuts, albeit they are less than for some CBI systems. The study concluded that the low rate of adoption of CBI systems is not a problem of low profitability. Hence, it is worthwhile to explore the other factors typically influencing the adoption of production technologies to find out the reasons for low adoption of CBI

Coconut Research Institute of Sri Lanka (CRISL) has designed and established twenty-six coconut-based agroforestry models in different agroecological regions of smallholder coconut farmers' fields commencing 1987. This study evaluates the conformity of four selected models with the existing resource base of smallholder coconut farmers and elicits their perceptions on these models. The selected models include: mixed farming for Wet Zone (model 1), mixed cropping for Wet Zone (model 2), mixed farming for Wet Intermediate Zone (model 3) and intercropping for Wet Intermediate Zone (model 4), established respectively at Gaspe, Hanchapola, Katuneriya and Thulawala. Conformity of these models with the existing resource base of the farmers was analyzed by comparing labor and cash requirement of the models with the availability of these two resources at farmers' disposal while the farmers' perceptions were elicited through a survey using a structured questionnaire supplemented with informal discussions. Results revealed that all the selected agroforestry models conform with the existing cash resource base of the farmer at current scale of operation, but not so with the family labor supply. However, both these resources may turn out to be limiting constraints once the current scale of operation is expanded. The farmers' expressed mix perceptions on agroforestry models in terms of model layout, crop composition, suitability to socioeconomic circumstances etc, with an overall positive assessment implying that the models developed by the CRISL are acceptable for them.