Browsing by Author "Kularatne, M.G."

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Abuse Potentials of the University Students
(University of Kelaniya, 2005) Weliange, W.S.; Kularatne, M.G.
Lack of facilities for various extra-curricular activities for all the students in the university community is one of the major reasons for student unrest in Sri Lanka. According to the investigation carried out in 1988, 20% and 80% students involved in competitive and non-competitive extra-curricular activities respectively, before they enter the university. 75% and 23% students expect jobs in the government sector and private sector respectively, only 5% prefers self-employment. Sports and aesthetic activities are most important for the well-being of the body and the mind. Involvement in different kinds of extra-curricular activities and continuation of activities that they have been doing since their childhood would probably help students 1) learn more about various challenges; 2) meet different people from prospective job markets and interests; 3) for capacity building; 4) in imagining about future prospective jobs; 5) develop the self-confident in facing the private sector and involve in self-employment. Therefore, the university education system should be reformed in a productive way to produce better graduates who can face any challenging situation in the country. Therefore, university as a learning organization should improve various activities to develop active participation of students in developing their skills in addition to academic activities. Thus, ongoing research should be carried out encompassing extra- curricular activities of the students in order to enhance active participation in the university environment.
Ancient Reservoirs of Sri Lanka: A Modern Biological Resource for Assuring Food Security in Rural Communities
(University of Kelaniya, 2005) Kularatne, M.G.; Amarasingha, U.S.
Reservoir construction in Sri Lanka dates back to times even before the period of written history. In Sri Lanka (64,652 km2), there are over 200 large (750 – 7,793 ha) and medium-sized (250 – 750 ha) reservoirs with a cumulative extent of over 130,000 ha, which support capture fisheries. In addition, there are over 15,000 small (<50 ha) village reservoirs with a total extent of about 39,000 ha. The reservoir density in Sri Lanka (about 2.6 ha for every km2 of island) is one of the highest, if not the highest in the world. Almost entire reservoir resource in Sri Lanka, with the exception of recently constructed hydroelectric reservoirs, supports agricultural food production in the country. As the extent of perennial reservoirs in each district is directly related to per capita freshwater fish consumption, in addition to agricultural production, major perennial reservoirs of Sri Lanka support animal protein production in the form of fish production. This is of particular importance because marine fish consumption is much low in inland districts possibly due to the availability of good quality freshwater fish locally. Also, there is a significant potential for the development of culture-based fisheries in small, village reservoirs of the country. An average fish yield of about 450 kg ha-1 can be achieved during a single culture cycle within a year from the culture-based fisheries in these village reservoirs. However, in order to achieve success of this strategy, a strong extension mechanism is needed to obtain active community participation. As inland fishery is a source of relatively cheap animal protein for rural communities, future prospects of this sector for food security need to be properly understood to give a high priority for inland fisheries research and development in national development plans.
Assessment and Management of Irrigation Impacts on Tropical Inland Fisheries: A Case Study from Sri Lanka
(2003) Khoa, S.N.; Smith, L.; Lorenzen, K.; Garaway, C.; Perera, L.R.; de Silva, S.; Kumara, M.M.C.; Amarasinghe, U.S.; Kularatne, M.G.; Bandara, H.M.S.C.
Assessment of water poverty of agricultural farming communities adjacent to Kala Wewa and Siyambalangamuwa reservoirs
(Sri Lanka Association for Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, 2015) Wimalasena, S.S.; Kularatne, M.G.; Amarasinghe, U.S.; Jayasinghe-Mudalige, U.K.
Provision of safe water in sufficient quantities has become a major upcoming issue globally, because water is considered as one of the most critically stressed natural resources and act as a major livelihood capital. Lack of access to water is directly associated with the nature and state of poverty; thus, it becomes a necessity that water is allocated in more equitable manner at every level, i.e. from individual household to the national. The root causes associated with water poverty and reservoir water management and the areas of greatest need to facilitate the prioritization of action towards integrated water management aiming equity and transparency in the Kala Wewa (2,914 ha) and Siyambalangamuwa reservoirs (788 ha) in the North-Western Province of Sri Lanka were investigated using the Water Poverty Index (WPI) – a multifaceted index with its values range from ‘0’ (minimum) to ‘100’ (maximum) and is estimated by taking the weighted sum of scores provided by respondents to five major components, including: (1) Resources; (2) Access; (3) Capacity; (4) Use, and (5) Environment, and each is characterized by several sub components. The data were collected from agricultural farming communities adjacent to these reservoirs by means of a series of in-depth personal interviews supported by a pre-tested structured questionnaire. Principal Component Analysis was employed to select the components with a large variance and to discard those with a smaller variance, and those indicators retained (i.e. the 1st Principal Components associated with Eigenvalues greater than 0.7) were combined using an additive aggregation. The estimated WPI was 76.24 to which the contribution of each component was, in their order: Capacity (17.79), Access (17.75), Use (15.47), Resources (12.93), and Environment (12.30). It was revealed that the severe drought condition prevailed in 2013 and 2014; chronic kidney disease, and the low rate of water quality assessment have led into low contribution from Environment component. The outcome of analysis implies that the information generated through WPI can be used effectively at the ‘ground level’ to assess the relationships between water and poverty that enables implementation of new strategies aiming integrated water management in reservoir-based communities in Sri Lanka.
Changing local economies due to "Internally displaced persons" (IDPs)' in the Puttalam/ Mundel estuarine system, North-western province of Sri Lanka
(National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency, 2003) Kularatne, M.G.
Consumer’s knowledge, attitudes and willingness to pay (WTP) for co-compost produced by Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)
(Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Shantha, K.M.S.U.; Kularatne, M.G.
Improper MSW management and over use of agro-chemicals have become burning issues in Sri Lanka. Most of the Sri Lankan Local Authorities (LAs) have continuously disposed their wastes without adequate segregation or treatment to open bare lands or environmentally sensitive areas like river banks and marshy lands. Co-composting can be the most suitable method of MSW management in mainly agricultural areas in Sri Lanka. However, composting from MSW was not succeed due to low quality and poor marketing strategies. Therefore, this study measured potential market price for co-compost and analysed attitude of compost use by bio-degradable wastes of MSW. Pretested structured questionnaires were used to collect data from 60 compose users selected using simple random sampling method from five Grama Niladari Divisions in Haputhale Divisional Secretary Divisions in Nuwaraeliya District in Sri Lanka. Contingent valuation method was used to estimate WTP of compost users by offering bids for unit price of co-composted fertilizer. The study revealed that 55% of compost users accepted bid value 10 SLRs per one kilogram of co-composted fertilizer. Age, education level, monthly total income, knowledge level about compost and experience of compost usage were the basic factors effecting for the WTP. A total of 72% of them had positive attitudes on agricultural and, environmental benefits with the relevant quality parameters of compost. There were 77% of respondents who stated their preference to buy co-composted fertilizer produced by using MSW. Co-composting of bio-degradable waste of MSW can be recommended as a sustainable and economical solution for MSW management. Co-composing can be a unique solution for the agricultural areas. However, potential technologically advanced co-composting methods such as environmental recycle system is recommended to be materialised as the findings of this study.
Energy Poverty in the transition from a Lower Income to a Middle-Income Country with special reference to Sri Lanka
(4th International Conference on Social Sciences 2018, Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Musafer, N.; Kularatne, M.G.
The Paris Climate Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals of 2015 have clearly identified energy access as a pre-requisite to achieving broader development goals. Sri Lanka, having a per capita GDP of USD 3,835 (2016), and a national poverty headcount ratio of 6.7% (2012/13), is a lower middle-income country, with significant progress in human development, and social indicators. This paper investigates into the shifts in energy consumption behaviour with the transition of Sri Lanka to a lower middle-income country, and the presence of energy poverty in the country using secondary data. Poverty and energy deprivation go hand-in-hand. Energy poverty yet to be clear define with a consensus, it is ill defined, complex and multidimensional concept and not adequately captured or measured in a single quantitative indicator. Energy poverty is hard to compare between two nations due to heterogeneity of the inherent characteristics. In Sri Lanka, per capita consumption of household cooking fuel has increased from 171kg to 252 kg of LPG equivalent from fuelwood, LPG and kerosene from 2003/04 to 2012/13, while per capita domestic electricity consumption has been maintained around 226 kWh and 210 kWh respectively. Using per capita threshold values for cooking fuel as 35kg of LPG or equivalent and 120kWh of electricity to be energy poor. In the meantime, Sri Lanka has maintained lower levels of energy intensity compared to other similar nations. As for electricity consumption by the domestic sector, the per capita household electricity consumption for lighting and other general purposes has also declined from 226kWh to 210kWh per capita from 2003/04 to 2012/13 respectively. One major reason for the reduction could be the use of energy efficient appliances, but this behavior is contrary to some other studies. In conclusion, considering a threshold of 120kWh of electricity per capita to define energy poverty, again Sri Lanka demonstrate that she has not been an energy poverty nation during latter part of it being a low income developing country.
Ensuring irrigation water user rights in a market driven economy: with special reference to the village irrigation systems in Sri Lanka
(Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science, 2016) Kularatne, M.G.
Evaluation of community participation for the development of culture-based fisheries in village reservoirs of Sri Lanka
(Aquaculture Economics & Management, 2009) Kularatne, M.G.; Amarasinghe, U.S.; Wattage, P.; de Silva, S.S.
Factors influencing tea consumption behavior in Sri Lanka (with special reference to Ratmalana divisional secretariat in Colombo district)
(Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2015) Abeygoonaratne, M.V.C.; Kularatne, M.G.
Tea is one of the most popular beverages consumed worldwide (Chacko, Thambi, Kuttan, & Nishigaki, 2010). According to the statistics provided by economic and social statistics, Sri Lanka continues to retain in the position of being the third largest exporter and the fourth largest producer of tea (Central Bank of Sri Lanka, 2015).The present study was conducted to identify the factors affecting tea consumption among local customers in urban areas. The consumption behavior of tea was studied in Ratmalana divisional secretariat area in Colombo district using primary data. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire from 150 randomly selected customers at different supermarkets and cafes. Multiple linear regression analysis was employed to study the factors influencing the quantity of tea demanded (quantity of tea purchased) per month by the sample respondents. The study was focused on nine factors ( age, family size, family income, number of years of education, number of cups consumed per day, price, monthly tea expenditure, advertisements and health awareness) with respect to the quantity of tea purchased per month. The results revealed that 88.7% of the respondents were tea consumers and only about 11.3% of respondents were non tea consumers. The consumers purchased on an average about 756.39g of tea powder every month. Hence, they‟re willing to pay Rs. 99.67 on average for 100g of tea. Age, family size, monthly tea expenditure and health awareness were the most significant factors. Influence of advertisements was the least influential factor. 49.6% of respondents were 19-30 years old and this was the age category that mostly consumed tea. Watawala and Lipton were most preferred brands among the consumers. The findings of empirical research suggested that people are more health conscious and are less likely to be influenced by advertisements but rather be influenced by family members. There is a need for integrated advertisement and sales promo especially for those brands that have low demand.
Harmonizing water allocation for multiple uses in irrigation reservoirs of the Kala Oya river basin, Sri Lanka
(Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Wimalasena, S.S.; Kularatne, M.G.; Jayasinghe-Mudalige, U.K.; Amarasinghe, U.S.
The primary use of many lowland reservoirs in Sri Lanka is to supply of water for irrigation, and inland fishery has become a secondary use. In the present study, four irrigation reservoirs in the Kala Oya river basin, namely: Dewahuwa, Kala Wewa, Siyambalangamuwa and Usgala-Siyambalangamuwa were selected to investigate the optimum water requirements for irrigation, fisheries and other small-scale economic activities such as livestock farming and brick making. A cross section (from year 2014 to 2015) of household heads (n=756) adjacent to the four reservoirs were interviewed to gather information on their degree of dependence on reservoir water for those multiple uses. General Stochastic Production Frontier Model was employed to evaluate the technical efficiency of water uses for various economic activities, and to quantify the volume of water that can be saved through more efficient uses. Water poverty index (WPI) was estimated to investigate accessibility and availability of water for multiple uses. Water valuation and optimum level of water allocation between uses were then calculated based on Marginal Value Product (MVP). The results indicated that the highest technical efficiency of water uses was for fisheries followed by livestock farming, rice farming and brick making, mainly due to nonconsumptive use of reservoir water for fisheries. The lowest WPI was in Dewahuwa reservoir situated in the upper region of Kala Oya river basin followed by Kalawewa, Usgla-Siyambanagamuwa and Siyambalangamuwa, which were located in the lower regions of the river basin where water uses for irrigation and other consumptive uses are much higher. In terms of MVP, the value of product for a unit of water use was higher for livestock farming and brick making. However, these economic activities are less significant compared to agriculture and fisheries. As such, this analysis highlights the need for concerted action of reservoir water management through cooperation between irrigation and fisheries authorities.
Influence of Demand on investment in Composting by Solid Waste (Case in Gampaha District)
(Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Madhusanka, T.U.; Kularatne, M.G.
Organic fertilizer production using solid waste is a growing method of composing today. However, large scale investments on production of organic fertilizer in many of developing countries including Sri Lanka have not met the optimum level. This study investigated the impact of the demand on the investments of the Compost production. Price Demand Elasticity and Cross Demand Elasticity performed using the primary data were collected from five organic fertilizer producers and thirty five organic fertilizer users randomly selected in five Divisional Secretary Divisions in Gampaha district in 2014. We claimed that the main reason for the low level of investment in organic fertilizer industry in Sri Lanka is the change in demand of organic fertilizer with respect to the price changing of chemical fertilizer. The government policy on fertilizer subsidy should be revised in order to promote environmentally friendly agriculture without harming the total agricultural productivity in order to improve the investments on organic fertilizer production.
Influence of socioeconomic heterogeneity on culture-based fisheries in non-perennial reservoirs of Sri Lanka
(Sri Lanka Association for Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, 2008) Kularatne, M.G.; Amarasinghe, U.S.; de Silva, S.S.
For culture-based fisheries (CBF) development in non-perennial reservoirs of Sri Lanka, importance of integration of economic, socio-cultural, political/institutional and ecological domains needs to be recognized. Farmer communities of 47 randomly selected non-perennial reservoirs in five districts were chosen for the present study. Reservoirs were stratified into three groups on the basis of the interest expressed by communities (i.e., disagree, somewhat agree and fully agree to get involved in CBF) during a preliminary questionnaire-survey. Attempts were then made to examine the significance of socioeconomic heterogeneity for decision-making in CBF activity with particular emphasis on the group characteristics and attitudes of communities towards state-sponsored services for the development of CBF. The community groups, which are in full agreement to take part in CBF are small in size (23) compared to those which disagreed (42). Level of education in office bearers also influences the decision-making process for involvement in CBF. Leadership qualities of members of communities positively influenced decision-making. The functional groups in CBF in various reservoirs are either all members of the farmer organization (FO), a sub-group of FO, community based organizations (CBO) or participation on individual basis. In reservoirs where FO or a sub-group of FO is involved in culture-based fisheries, socioeconomic heterogeneity influences the decision-making. Mean equality percentage of the active members of the fully agreed group is the highest (80%) when compared with the other two groups (< 73%). Homogeneity of the age, caste, kinship, political ideology also positively influenced decision making in these communities. Communities with high proportions of younger (<40 years of age) members have a positive attitude towards development of CBF. Farming communities with several sources of income in a household are highest in the group of full agreement, which perhaps indicates an attitude of each community to maximize household income. Level of satisfaction about the government services varied among the communities. The group of communities, which disagreed with CBF development, is more satisfied with the existing government services than the other two groups indicating their poor attitude towards social uplifting. The present analysis shows that homogeneity of the group characteristics facilitates the collective decision-making. As such, socioeconomic heterogeneity in communities has an important impact on collective decision-making as regards to this development activity.
Institutional Robustness of Culture-based Fisheries in Perennial Reservoirs of Sri Lanka
(Asian Fisheries Society, 2020) Pushpalatha, K.B.C.; Kularatne, M.G.; Amarasinghe, U.S.
The utilisation of irrigation reservoirs for culture-based fisheries (CBF) development is a recent development in Sri Lanka. The trends in CBF development in five reservoirs were investigated, to identify the robustness of institutional arrangements in the rural fisheries organisations (RFOs) for the sustainability of CBF. Basic socio-economic characteristics of five fisher communities showed enabling features for implementing CBF through community participation. After the introduction of CBF, fish species composition in the landings changed with the occurrence of stocked species in the landings, resulting remarkablyelevated fishers’ income ranging from 194% to 2187% in Urusita and Ampara reservoirs respectively. The CBF management options of RFOs in two reservoirs, viz. Ampara and Jayanthi were at high compliance levels of Ostrom’s modified design principles, where fishers enjoyed increased mean annual income registering 2187% in Ampara and 409% in Jayanthi reservoirs after introduction of CBF. In Senanayake Samudra, where there was moderate compliance, there was 249% increase in CBF income. However, the lowest increase of income (194%) in Urusita reservoir was due to high annual fisheries income even during pre-CBF period. In Hambegamuwa reservoir, where levels of compliance of RFOs with design principles were relatively poor compared to other four fisher communities, increase of fishers’ CBF income, compared to that of pre-CBF period, was marginal (202%). Economic gains of RFOs due to increased levels of compliance with design principles through improving leadership qualities and empowering fishers for management decision-making would,therefore,ensure sustainability of CBF.
Investigation of Socioeconomic Characteristics of Agricultural Communities in Relation to the Development of Culture-Based Fisheries in Non-Perennial Reservoirs of Sri Lanka
(IFET 2006 Portsmouth, 2006) Kularatne, M.G.; Amarasinghe, U.S.; de Silva, S.S.
Labour Movement from Private Sector to Public Sector and Drivers of Labour Movement in Sri Lanka
(4th International Conference on Social Sciences 2018, Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Withanage, H.H.; Kularatne, M.G.
Labour movement, especially seeking employment opportunities from one sector to another is a very common factor in the era of globalization. In the mixed economic system, labour moves between private sector and the public sector and vice versa. In the study “Labour Movement from Private Sector to Public Sector and Drivers of Labour Movement in Sri Lanka” it is intended to investigate the labour movement direction from private sector to public sector. The output will be compared with the findings on the literature that will help to prove the hypothesis of the research. The data was collected from purposely selected one public institute and two institutes of private sector using a questionnaire survey. A total of 27 employees from the Public Sector and 24 employees from the Private Sector were selected using systematic random sampling method. This represented 20% of the total population. The research revealed that 41% workers wished to move to the private sector from public sector while 71% workers wished to move from private sector to public sector. In conclusion, it clearly empasized that more labourers in the private sector prefers to move to the public sector in Sri Lanka due to reasons such as pension, number of holidays, working hours, credit facilities and job security
The Most Influential Factors on Youth Female Unemployment Incidences in a Sri Lanka
(4th International Conference on Social Sciences 2018, Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Perera, K.B.P.; Kularatne, M.G.; Wehigaldeniya, W.G.D.S.
Unemployment is one of the key measures of economic health. The unemployment rate indicates the degree of usage of productive resources available in an economy. Everyone would be employed at some wage to maximize the efficiency of an economy. The Purpose of this study is to identify the most influential factors behind the high rate of youth female unemployment incidences in Sri Lanka. The secondary data, concepts and definitions used in annual report of Labour Force Survey (LFS) in 2015which has conducted by Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) is used for this study. The data analysed most influential factor of the youth female unemployment incidences in Sri Lanka based on the analysis of Descriptive statistics, Pearson’s Chi Square test and independent sample T-test.The research revealed that independent variables such as Sector, Province, Ethnicity, Religion, Marital status, Family size, Number of dependents, Relation to the household head, Monthly income level, Educational level, Literacy in English/Tamil and Completion of training relevant to occupation or selfemployment are influential factors of the Youth female unemployment incidences of Sri Lanka. However, among those factors Monthly family income is the most influential factor. Other than the Monthly family income Province, Level of education and Completion of relevant training program are also more influential factors rather than other categorical variables. In addition to categorical variables, Family size and Number of dependents also more influential factors on Youth female unemployment
Optimal allocation of water in village irrigation systems of Sri Lanka
(2011) Kularatne, M.G.
Production trends and technical efficiencies of culture‐based fisheries in five tropical irrigation reservoirs: A case study from Sri Lanka
(Fisheries Management and Ecology, 2020) Pushpalatha, K.B.C.; Kularatne, M.G.; Chandrasoma, J.; Amarasinghe, U.S.
Culture‐based fisheries (CBF) are increasingly accepted as strategies for enhancing inland fisheries, especially in tropical Asia. In Sri Lanka, CBF development in irrigation reservoirs has gained momentum due to concerted efforts of government fisheries authorities for inland fisheries enhancement. In the present study, production trends of five irrigation reservoirs of Sri Lanka before and after the introduction of CBF were investigated and apparently optimal CBF yields were not realised. Hence, the stochastic frontier production function (SFPF) was employed to quantify technical efficiencies (TE) of CBF. For each reservoir, annual averages of input data from 2005 to 2018 (14 years) were used in the TE analysis. Hence, total sample size for estimation of SFPF was 70. Although CBF production gradually increased in all five reservoirs from 2005 to 2018, there were substantial variations of total fish production across the reservoirs. The SFPF indicated that CBF production could be further increased through more efficient management of inputs (i.e. number of fishers, mean number of fishing days per year and stocking density). https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/fme.12460?af=R
Productive efficiency based collective decision on allocating land for sharecropping in village irrigation systems of Sri Lanka
(Culture, Globalization and the Developing World, 2nd ICSS, 2013) Kularatne, M.G.; Wilson Clevo; Pascoe Sean; Robinson Tim
Literature shows that there is a negative relationship between rice yield and the distance to the field from the water sources in irrigation agriculture. In this paper, we test this fact with respect to the village irrigation systems in Sri Lanka through stochastic production frontier analysis with a technical inefficiency model and to examine sectoral productive performance and its determinants. The adopted Bethama (share cropping) practice is an ancient system that has been practised during the water deficit agricultural seasons. Primary data was collected from 460 rice farmers in the Kurunegala District to estimate technical efficiency in three sub locations: head-end fields (HEFs), middle fields (MFs) and tail-end fields (TEFs) in the command area. We reject of head-tail syndrome with respect to the village irrigation systems (VISs). TEFs are more productive than HEFs of the command area. The sharecropping system has been instrumental for allocating land either from HEFs or from MFs due to water constraints. However, based on the intra-sectoral efficiency estimation, this haphazard method of allocation cannot be recommended as technically efficient method of rice farming in VISs.