KSS Rajakaruna1, N De Silva1, HW Shaymalie2 and AD Jayasinghe1
1Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna, Mapalana, Sri Lanka
2Tea Research Institute, Thalawakele, Sri Lanka
Abstrsact
Over the years Sri Lanka has gained profound popularity for its world renowned ‘Ceylon Tea’. Being one of the
major plantation crops in Sri Lanka, tea industry plays a vital role in the Sri Lankan economy. Interestingly, tea
small holding sector leads the industry by contributing 73% to the total tea production in the country out of
which low country tea small holders own 82% of the production. Considering the importance of the tea small
holders, this study mainly focuses on assessing the entrepreneurial behaviour and identifying the factors which
determined the entrepreneurial behavior of tea small holders in low country. The study was conducted at Kottawa
tea inspector’s division in Galle district. Randomly selected 60 tea small holders were interviewed using a pretested
questionnaire. Entrepreneurial Behavioral Index (EBI) was constructed using the eleven attributes of entrepreneurial
behaviour. Results revealed that the overall entrepreneurial behaviour of the tea small holders posted
a value of 76.62. Among all the attributes, achievement motivation, farming knowledge and self -confidence were
revealed as higher level entrepreneurial behaviour attributes. Rest of them such as innovativeness, management
orientation, decision making, utilize available assistance, risk taking, leadership ability, coordination and cosmopoliteness
have
designated
a
medium
level
entrepreneurial
attributes.
Education level, family support, utilization of
information sources and the number of trainings received were identified as the key determinants which has impacted
significantly and positively on entrepreneurial behaviour. Finally this study recommends introducing the
entrepreneurship development training programs to achieve the medium level components to highest level.
Key words: : Tea, small holders in Sri Lanka, Entrepreneurial Behavior Index, low country
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