57 Factors Affecting Farmers` Higher Gain from Paddy Marketing: A Case Study on Paddy Farmers in North Central Province, Sri Lanka

Abstract

This study focused to identify the likelihood factors affectingon farmers’ higher gain from paddy marketing in the NorthCentral Province of Sri Lanka, where the main paddy cultivationarea of the country. The required data was drawn from the fieldsurvey carried out in three irrigation systems covering 257farmers during July to August 2010. The empirical logit modelwas used to assess factors. The study found that imperfectionsof existing paddy marketing system in the area due to concentratedmarket power among few oligopolistic buyers. Furthermore,land size, land ownership, poor accessibility in formal sectorcredit market and farmers involvement in informal sectorcredit sources are critical to farmers’ decisions to gain higherreturns from paddy marketing. The results further showed theneed of reviewing the roles and functions of governmentextension services and farmer organizations with regard to thepaddy marketing.

Keywords

• Paddy Farming
• Small Scale Farmer
• Paddy Marketing System
• Price returns
• Empirical Logit Model