Contribution of paddy cultivation to domestic consumption of rural people

Abstract

Rural sector accounts for majority of the total Sri Lankan population. Their main source of income and consumption is paddy cultivation. Despite various policies implemented by the government to develop the paddy cultivation of the rural people, today the rural sector contributes majority to overall poverty. The productivity of the rural economy and the consumption level of farmers have come down significantly and as a result the government has to bear an increased cost which affects economic growth. The problem of study; is the domestic paddy cultivation adequate to fulfill the domestic consumption needs in the rural sector. The main objective of the study is to identify the adequacy of the contribution of domestic paddy cultivation to fulfill the domestic consumption needs of the rural sector. If this contribution proves to be inadequate, identifying reasons for that and identifying solution for increasing farmer?s income are sub objectives in this study. A sample of 50 families was selected from Dimbulagala Secretarial Division in Polonnaruwa District using simple random sampling technique. Both primary and secondary data was used for the quantitative and qualitative analysis of the study. It was revealed form the study that the income from paddy cultivation has a direct impact on the consumption of the farmers but it is not adequate to fulfill all their needs. Hence, most of the farmers obtain loans from the formal and informal sectors in fulfilling their needs. Based on the findings, it was concluded that the continuous increase in their debts led to an increase in rural poverty. Therefore it can be recommended that improve of paddy cultivation and farmer?s income.