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Assessing of Public Attitudes towards Home garden Development in Dry Zone of Sri Lanka
By Admin | July 21, 2009
In Practice, forests and forest plantations even taken together are no longer the most important source of wood. About 70% of the supply of construction and industrial wood comes from home garden, rubber and coconut plantations and trees planted along farm boundaries, on roadsides and in urban area (Sri Lanka Forestry Sector Master Plan, 1995). Home garden are a traditional system of perennial cropping that uses a range of economically valuable trees , such as fruits spices , medicinal plants and timer spices. They offer a highly diversified and economically viable form of land use, found around a house. The number of species varies from low to high
The main objectives of the study are to assess the compositions in Dry zone home garden, identifying pubic preference of perennial agriculture species and Timber species suitable for home garden, Identifying limitations of home garden development and on the effectiveness of various forestry extension methodologies that conveying information from FD to general public.
Randomly selected 35 house holds were participated for study in Nuwaragampalatha centrel and Talawa divisional secretariats in Anuradhapura district
The principal methods of data collection included structured questionnaire, observation, and group discussion. People are maintaining home garden in different size. The average size of the home gardens were reported as 0.5 acre to 1.5 acres. Average monthly income from home garden is around Rs 857.14. Neem (Azadirachta indica) is grown as dominant timber species in naturally with it adaptation ability to harsh conditions. Exotic specie namely as Teak (Tectona grandis) is grown by people in every home garden because of its economic value. People preferred more on perennial fruit tree species such as Coconut (Cocus nucifera), Mango(Mangifera indica) and Orange(Citrus sinensis) than vegetables and timber species. Teak is rated as the most suitable timber species for home garden followed by Neem(Azadirachta indica), Halmilla(Berrya cordifolia) and Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla). Out of six limitations forwarded to the respondents, water scarcity (3.28), Planting materials (3.029) were rated as most important, while market constraints (1.685) and fire (1.176) were regarded the least important for home garden development. Awareness programs for home garden development and informal discussion with household were considered the most effective forestry extension methodology. The result of this analysis can be used to implement tree planting program and home garden development program effectively and efficiency in dry zone of Sri Lanka.
Key words: Home garden, public preference
N.R.P. Withana and A.H.M. Jayarathna
Forest Department, Sri Lanka
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