Crop diversification strategies for minor irrigation schemes: Proceedings of the workshop organized by the Irrigation Research Management Unit, Irrigation Department and the Sri Lanka National Program, International Irrigation Management Institute, held at the Irrigation Department, Colombo, Sri Lanka on 20 February 1996

Irrigation programs / Irrigation management / Small scale systems / Crops / Diversification / Rice / Cropping systems / Constraints / Social aspects / Economic aspects / Field crops / Crop production / Labor / Farmers' attitudes / Water management / Groundwater / Sri Lanka

VALUE ADDITION PATHWAYS OF Exacum trinervium (BINARA) AND Santaum abum (SANDLEWOOD)

Value addition pathways of Exacum trinervium (binara) and Santa/um album (sandlewood) werestudied using information from literature, participatory discussions and indigenous knowledgevia personal communication. Exacum trinervium is em endemic and endangered species. Valueaddition pathways of E. trinervium includes direct selling of wild plants, breeding forornamental usage in Sri Lanka and the Netherlands, and for medicinal usage. Price of the plantscollected from wild ranges from Rs.2S-S0 per plant whereas prices of locally bred plants are Rs.60-70 per plant. Price of a pot of E. trinervium in the Netherlands is around Rs. 3500. ForSanta/um album collection, extraction of sandlewood oils for beauty-cultural industry,indigenous medicinal usage, woodcarving and export of timber to Pakistan are the value additionpathways. Price of a sandlewood at the age of 15 years ranges from Rs. 500-1000. Single tree ofsandlewood can yield about 11 of sandlewood oil. 'Pie price of 11of sandlewood oil is aroundRs. 40,000 in local market and US$ 4325 in interr ational market, which is mainly used forbeauty-cultural activities where there is no other synthetic or natural substance, has been foundto replace its fixative ability of sandlewood oil. Luxurious cosmetics, perfumes and sandlewoodsoap are produced using small amount of sandlewood oil. Timber of S. album is sold at Rs. 150-200 per kg, which is used for woodcarving. The carved items of sandlewood are priced at Rs.3000 per kg. These two species exemplifies the presence of various value addition pathwaysproviding ample opportunities for development of new industries and generation of incomethose have to be explored carefully.

An Overview of Weeds and Weed Management in Rice of South Asia

South Asia produces slightly above 225 million tons of rice (30.7% of global production) on 60 million hectares (37.6% of the global area). India and Bangladesh are the major rice-growing countries. India contributes around a quarter of global production from 43 million hectares (the largest rice cultivating area). In South Asia, manually transplanting rice seedlings into flooded soil (TPR) is the common method of rice establishment. But direct-seeded rice (DSR) is gaining importance due to shortage and increased cost of resources. In Sri Lanka 93% of rice is cultivated as wet-seeded rice. However, the weeds are major constraints in DSR causing higher (14 to 100%) than in TPR (7 to 80%). Major rice weeds in South Asia include: Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) P. Beauv., Echinochloa colona (L.) Link., Cyperus rotundus L., Cyperus iria Linn., Cyperus difformis L., red rice (Oryza sativa L.), Leptochloa chinensis (L.) Nees, Ischaemum rugosum Salisb., Paspalum distichum L., Dactyloctenium aegyptium (L.) Willd., Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers., Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) P. Beauv., Eleusine indica (L.) Pers., and Fimbristylis miliacea (L.) Vahl. Weeds flora was reported to vary with location, method of rice establishment, cultural practices used and associated environment. The small-holders’ traditional weed control method is hand weeding by hand-held hoe and hand pulling. Hand weeding is still a major method of weed control. However, the herbicide use is increasing due to non-availability and increased cost of labour in several of the South Asian countries. Mechanical weeders are being used by farmers as they reduce labor use and cost of weeding (72 to 74%). Tillage, mulching, crop rotation, allelopathic competitive crop cultivars, intercropping, balanced nutrient and water management and preventive measures have proven to be effective as a component of integrated weed management in rice of South Asian countries. Herbicide resistance among weeds in rice was not reported in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan. Herbicide resistant biotypes of E. crus-galli, I. rugosum and C. iria were reported in Sri Lanka. In South Asia, herbicide tolerant rice is yet to be made available to farming community. Weed management research must be focused on identifying location specific effective, environment friendly, economically viable integrated weed management strategies

VALUE ADDITION TO BIODIVERSITY PRODUCTS FOR BIOPROSPECTING AND BENEFIT SHARING

Sri Lanka has been identified as a biodiversity hotspot in the world. This is because of her richdiversity at genes, species and ecosj stem levels and unprecedented rate of loss ofSuch biodiversity. Sharing of benefits and increase in the recognized value of resources havebeen considered as one of the most effective pathways to foster conservation and utilization ofbiodiversity. Bioprospecting is searching for new genes, species and lor products for utilization,which has been practiced for centuries in Sri Lanka and elsewhere. However, to reach theoptimum benefit of bioprospecting and benefit sharing, it is essential to understand the valueaddition processes to biodiversity products. Value addition is considered as a step taken toincrease the value of a raw product any time between the harvesting and sale of the finalproduct. Value added products not only offer a higher return, but also open new markets, createbrand recognition and add variety. Value addition to biodiversity products can be rewarding andbenefits accrue from matching under-utili sed resources with potential marketsThe objectives of this study were to explore different value addition pathways of biodiversityproducts and identify sharing of benefits in each value addition process using Exacumtrinervium (binara), Salacia reticulate (kotalahimbutu), Munronia pinnata (binkohomba),Santalum a/bum (suduhandun) and Coscinium fenestratum (venival gata). Information wascollected from personal communication (indigenous knowledge), literature survey and brainstorming discussions.Potential value addition pathways were identified for all species. Sharing of benefits occursthroughout the value addition processes, although magnitude of sharing between different stepsvaries with species. In majority of species higher level of benefits is received by middlemanwhere as inM pinnata, collectors share high level of benefits. Results of the study also revealedthat there are no benefits provided in return to the area of conservation, which is a key factor ofdetermining sustainability of conservation. Implications of understanding of value additionprocesses of biodiversity prospecting, requirements of establishment of national legislation onbiodiversity prospecting, value addition and benefit sharing, and development of procedures andinstitutional capacities to implement such legislation are also discussed in this paper

A cross-cultural comparison of student learning patterns in higher education

Marambe, K. N., Vermunt, J. D., & Boshuizen, H. P. A. (2012). A cross-cultural comparison of student learning patterns in higher education. Higher Education, 64(3), 299-316. doi:10.1007/s10734-011-9494-zThe aim of this study was to compare student learning patterns in higher education across different cultures. A meta-analysis was performed on three large-scale studies that had used the same research instrument: the Inventory of learning Styles (ILS). The studies were conducted in the two Asian countries Sri Lanka and Indonesia and the European country The Netherlands. Students reported use of learning strategies, metacognitive strategies, conceptions of learning and learning orientations were compared in two ways: by analyses of variance of students' mean scale scores on ILS scales, as well as by comparing the factor structures of the ILS-scales between the three studies. Results showed most differences in student learning patterns between Asian and European students. However, many differences were identified between students from the two Asian countries as well. The Asian learner turned out to be a myth. Moreover, Sri Lankan students made the least use of memorising strategies of all groups. That Asian learners would have a propensity for rote learning turned out to be a myth as well. Some patterns of learning turned out to be universal and occurred in all groups, other patterns were found only among the Asian or the European students. The findings are discussed in terms of learning environment and culture as explanatory factors. Practical implications for student mobility in an international context are derived