Factors Affecting Commercialization of Home Garden Vegetables in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The study was carried out to find the factors affecting commercialization of vegetable that produced from the home garden and its average level of commercialization. A structured questionnaire and field observation techniques were used to collect data from 232 randomly selected home gardeners in the South East part of Sri Lanka. The Tobit regression model was applied to study the significant factors that influenced home garden vegetables' commercialisation. The present study found that the average home garden vegetable commercialization level was 32.3 per cent. Further, the commercialization significantly (p<0.05) had a negative impact on the farmer’s level of education, family income, size of the family, health consciousness of home gardener, and losses by the pest and disease whereas the marital status, the number of family labours involved in home gardening and institutional supports significantly increase the commercialization. The research recommends that public and private sector involvement is needed to support through the training program and advisory services to control pest and disease attack. Further, the study area needs to be appreciated and promoted via appropriate policy intervention strategies to develop a good structure value chain and market.