http://drr.vau.ac.lk/handle/123456789/243 Sun, 05 Apr 2026 19:06:19 GMT 2026-04-05T19:06:19Z http://drr.vau.ac.lk/handle/123456789/1773 The Impact of Farming Characteristics on the Adoption of Integrated Pest Management Practices Among Paddy Farmers in Vavuniya District, Sri Lanka Adchayan, S.; Ranamukhaarachchi, S.L; Thayaparan, A.; Selvarajan, P. The present study aimed to examine the association between the demographic characteristics and farming practices with the choice of Integrated Pest Management (IPM), as well as the impact of farming practices on IPM adoption among the paddy farmers in Vavuniya district. A mixed-methods approach was adopted, and 100 paddy farmers in Vavuniya district were purposively selected for data collection in 2023. Data collection included a semi-structured questionnaire survey, focus group discussions, personal interviews, and participant observation. Quantitative data analysis techniques included frequency analysis, the Chi-square test, and the Multinomial Probit Model. Qualitative data were analyzed using interpretive analysis. The results showed that 76% of paddy farmers used chemical control methods, 16% used cultural control methods, and only 8% used mechanical control methods. The Chi-square test showed that, among demographic characteristics, only race was significantly associated with IPM choice, whereas among farming practices, yield consideration, land ownership, and pest types were significantly associated. The Multinomial Probit Model results revealed that all explanatory variables related to farming practices yield consideration, types of fertilizer, types of labour, land size, types of weeds, and types of pests were major factors determining the choice of IPM practices. Moreover, the qualitative interpretive analysis revealed that farming area, farmers' risk-taking attitudes, family background, and experience influenced their choice of IPM practices. Additionally, factors such as the country's economic situation and environmental conditions, including unforeseen weather changes, also influenced IPM practice choices. This study revealed that a lack of knowledge in choosing IPM practices is a key limitation. Therefore, it is recommended that regular information be provided to paddy farmers on effective IPM practices. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT http://drr.vau.ac.lk/handle/123456789/1773 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z http://drr.vau.ac.lk/handle/123456789/1699 Workers’ Remittances and Household Consumption Expenditure in Selected South Asian Countries Paulina Mary, G.P.; Selvamalai, T. The remittance inflow becomes as an important factor for economic development in developing countries especially in South Asian countries. It would affect exchange rate, investment, private consumption, poverty and economic growth, etc. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of workers’ remittance inflow on household consumption expenditure in South Asian countries between 1987 and 2016. Study considered Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka from South Asian region, based on the availability of data. The data of growth rate of remittance inflow and growth rate of household consumption obtained from World Development Indicator, World Bank Database. The study applied multiple linear regression model, Random effect model and fixed effect model to trace out the impact remittance inflow on household consumption expenditure in South Asian region. The multiple linear regression results suggested that growth rate of remittance inflow had a positive and significant impact on household consumption expenditure only in Bangladesh but insignificant impact in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The fixed effect model revealed that remittance inflow had a negative and insignificant impact on household consumption expenditure in South Asian region. But, random effect model revealed that remittance inflow had a positive and insignificant impact on household consumption expenditure in selected South Asian region. Housman Test concluded that random effect model preferred to fixed effect model to explain the impact of workers’ remittance on household consumption expenditure in this selected South Asian region. Therefore, this study reports that growth rate of worker’s remittance has positive impact but exert no significant influence on growth rate of household consumption expenditure in this region during the study period. Mon, 01 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMT http://drr.vau.ac.lk/handle/123456789/1699 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z http://drr.vau.ac.lk/handle/123456789/1696 An Analysis o f Consumers’ Buying Behavoiur a nd Its Determinants o f Fast Food i n Sri Lanka. Thayaparan, A.; Paulina Mary, G.P. This study focused to identify the impact of demographic and economic attributes of the consumers that influence on fast food consumption and consumers’ buying behaviour in Moratuwa municipal council area which is located in Sri Lanka. Data were collected through a consumer survey with a structured questionnaire conducted in the study area and 100 samples from 50 restaurants were selected randomly. An ordered probit model was carried out to find out the relationships between a selected demographic and economic attributes of consumers such as age, e ducation, gende r, civil status, number of family members, distance to the nearest fast food outlet, conscious of health and disease concern on fast food consumption, consumers’ perception on convenience of fast food, entertainm ent, income, employment status, and price op inion about fast food that affect on buying behaviour of the consumers in the fast food restaurants in Sri Lanka. In addition to that, other econometrics techniques such as, descriptive statistics, chi square test and marginal effects also applied in the data. Frequency of fast food consumption considered as dependent variable which is as an ordinal outcome variable and all other explanatory variables namely demographic and economic attributes of consumers were used as categorical and binary variables in th e study. Results from the ordered probit model reveals that, age of the respondent, education level, employment and civil status, distance to the nearest fast food outlet from their home have statistically significant and they are the key determinants in t he consumption of fast food. The findings of this study will help for fast food managers to design their marketing strategies which are most suitable to fit with the consumers’ attitudes and expectations and their buying behaviour of fast food restaurants in Sri Lanka. Thu, 01 Jan 2015 00:00:00 GMT http://drr.vau.ac.lk/handle/123456789/1696 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z http://drr.vau.ac.lk/handle/123456789/1695 Farmers Characteristics and Its Influencing on Loans Resettlement Decision in Sri Lanka. Thayaparan, A.; Paulina Mary, G.P. This study investigates the impact of socio-economic characteristics of the farmers and its impact on their loans resettlement behavior in the People’s Bank, Puttalam branch in Sri Lanka. Secondary data were collected from the bank officials and the data were analyzed with 100 applicants who are cultivating paddy as a major crop and other field crops during the Maha and Yala season 2011/2012. This study was analyzed using descriptive statistics, Tobit model and in addition to that elasticity of the loan repayment ratio also measured. The estimated Tobit regression model indicated that family members and secondary education were significantly positive influence on the farmers’ repayment behavior while loan disbursement has negative influence on their behavior in Sri Lanka. Other independent variables namely gender, age, civil status, major crops, income and higher level of education of the beneficiaries were not statistically significant influence on the farmers’ behavior in the above bank branch in Sri Lanka. The elasticity of the loan repayment performance for the variables also were calculated at the mean values and according to that number of family members, size of loans and secondary education were statistically significant. The overall results revealed that, the bank managers should considered the above characters of the borrowers to increase the probability of repayment ratio and thus it will help them to improve the efficiency of lending decision of the bank loans in future Wed, 01 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT http://drr.vau.ac.lk/handle/123456789/1695 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z