Abstract:
Alternative crops are considered to be one of the feasible solutions for common constraints faced by the paddy
farmers. Therefore the present study was undertaken in Hambantota district of Southern Sri Lanka with the ob jectives of identifying and assessing the potentials and prospects of different fruits as alternative crops. Through a
structured questionnaire, the primary data were collected from randomly selected Agricultural Instructors (AIs),
Agriculture Research and Production Assistants (ARPAs) and farmers. Fruit cultivation in terms of alternate
crops are found to be dominated by banana (68%) followed by papaya (8%),watermelon (6%), passion fruit
(3.5%) and pomegranate (3.47%).The higher number of farmers per visits (>125 farmers/visit) made by the ma jority of Agricultural Instructors (AIs) (72%) has caused an inefficient knowledge dissemination. As a result, the
majority of farmers (52%) have to depend on dealers for the pesticides usage followed by AIs and farmers’ tradi tional knowledge. Moreover in order to popularize potentially available fruit crops, meeting the requirement of
local seeds/ planting materials ought to be supplied with subsidy. Furthermore, implementation of few attractive
financial inducements for the non – paddy farmers is vitally important. Water shortage, unavailability of storage
facilities, lack of farmer involvement in processing and value addition of harvest, crop damage by wild animals
are some of the identified constrains. Cultivation of fruits as alternatives crops could be achieved in Hambantota
district through an integrated approach including effective means of knowledge dissemination, farmer support iv
