Adoption of Recommended Plant Protection Measures for the Management of Major Coconut Pests by Coconut Growers in Kurunegala District, Sri Lanka

Coconut production in Sri Lanka is threatened by pest and diseases. Therefore, different remedial measures have been introduced by Coconut Research Institute (CRI) to safeguard the plantations. This study was carried out to determine the adoption of recommended plant protection measures to manage ma...

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Main Author: W.G. Ruvani Subhathma
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: International Coconut Community 2018-10-01
Series:CORD
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journal.coconutcommunity.org/index.php/journalicc/article/view/26
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author W.G. Ruvani Subhathma
author_facet W.G. Ruvani Subhathma
author_sort W.G. Ruvani Subhathma
collection DOAJ
description Coconut production in Sri Lanka is threatened by pest and diseases. Therefore, different remedial measures have been introduced by Coconut Research Institute (CRI) to safeguard the plantations. This study was carried out to determine the adoption of recommended plant protection measures to manage major pests of coconut by the growers in different land categories. The growers were selected from Kurunegala district, which is the major coconut growing district in coconut triangle in Sri Lanka. Findings of the study revealed that more than 70 percent of the growers in all land categories above 2Ac had adopted technologies recommended by CRI to control black beetle. Technology adoption was around 60 percent for red weevil control, around 30 percent for coconut mite and around 65 percent for plesispa beetle. It was also noted that the decision making on the adoption of different technologies is affected by the perceptions of the growers. Growers’ perception was determined by two factors, information receiving sources and occurrence of pest attacks in their fields. Further, it was found that the growers are having limited access to latest technologies in pest control. In addition, the study revealed that unawareness of technologies and low attention for coconut farming was the two major reasons for poor adoption of the recommended technologies. It is concluded that coconut growers in Kurunegala district require more awareness regarding recommended plant protection measures to manage major coconut pests and strengthen extension programes.
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spelling doaj.art-90547150509e4f099873960123479d152022-12-21T17:59:20ZengInternational Coconut CommunityCORD0215-11622721-88562018-10-0134015158https://doi.org/10.37833/cord.v34i1.26Adoption of Recommended Plant Protection Measures for the Management of Major Coconut Pests by Coconut Growers in Kurunegala District, Sri LankaW.G. Ruvani SubhathmaCoconut production in Sri Lanka is threatened by pest and diseases. Therefore, different remedial measures have been introduced by Coconut Research Institute (CRI) to safeguard the plantations. This study was carried out to determine the adoption of recommended plant protection measures to manage major pests of coconut by the growers in different land categories. The growers were selected from Kurunegala district, which is the major coconut growing district in coconut triangle in Sri Lanka. Findings of the study revealed that more than 70 percent of the growers in all land categories above 2Ac had adopted technologies recommended by CRI to control black beetle. Technology adoption was around 60 percent for red weevil control, around 30 percent for coconut mite and around 65 percent for plesispa beetle. It was also noted that the decision making on the adoption of different technologies is affected by the perceptions of the growers. Growers’ perception was determined by two factors, information receiving sources and occurrence of pest attacks in their fields. Further, it was found that the growers are having limited access to latest technologies in pest control. In addition, the study revealed that unawareness of technologies and low attention for coconut farming was the two major reasons for poor adoption of the recommended technologies. It is concluded that coconut growers in Kurunegala district require more awareness regarding recommended plant protection measures to manage major coconut pests and strengthen extension programes.https://journal.coconutcommunity.org/index.php/journalicc/article/view/26technology adoptionpestcoconutgrower perceptionscoconut growers
spellingShingle W.G. Ruvani Subhathma
Adoption of Recommended Plant Protection Measures for the Management of Major Coconut Pests by Coconut Growers in Kurunegala District, Sri Lanka
CORD
technology adoption
pest
coconut
grower perceptions
coconut growers
title Adoption of Recommended Plant Protection Measures for the Management of Major Coconut Pests by Coconut Growers in Kurunegala District, Sri Lanka
title_full Adoption of Recommended Plant Protection Measures for the Management of Major Coconut Pests by Coconut Growers in Kurunegala District, Sri Lanka
title_fullStr Adoption of Recommended Plant Protection Measures for the Management of Major Coconut Pests by Coconut Growers in Kurunegala District, Sri Lanka
title_full_unstemmed Adoption of Recommended Plant Protection Measures for the Management of Major Coconut Pests by Coconut Growers in Kurunegala District, Sri Lanka
title_short Adoption of Recommended Plant Protection Measures for the Management of Major Coconut Pests by Coconut Growers in Kurunegala District, Sri Lanka
title_sort adoption of recommended plant protection measures for the management of major coconut pests by coconut growers in kurunegala district sri lanka
topic technology adoption
pest
coconut
grower perceptions
coconut growers
url https://journal.coconutcommunity.org/index.php/journalicc/article/view/26
work_keys_str_mv AT wgruvanisubhathma adoptionofrecommendedplantprotectionmeasuresforthemanagementofmajorcoconutpestsbycoconutgrowersinkurunegaladistrictsrilanka