School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences - Research Publications

Permanent URI for this collection

http://hdl.handle.net/11343/426

Filters

2020 1
Reset filters

Settings
Statistics
Citations
Author: Malcolm, Lyle × Author: Rathnayake, Chinthani × Start date: 1990 × Type: Conference Paper ×

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Item
    No Preview Available
    Impacts on producers and consumers of policy banning the use of Glyphosate Weedicide: the case of the tea production in Sri Lanka
    Rathnayake, C ; Malcolm, B ; Farquharson, R ; Sinnett, A ; Griffith, G (Australasian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society (AARES) Inc, 2020)
    Objective or research question Tea production is the highest foreign exchange earning agricultural industry in Sri Lanka. It provides livelihood for many people, thus plays a major part of the economy. In this study the likely economic impacts on the tea industry of the Sri Lankan government policy banning the use of Glyphosate weedicide ‘Roundup’ are investigated. The primary question is ‘How has the ban on Glyphosate affected the tea industry in Sri Lanka?’. There are two secondary questions: ‘What was the effect of the ban on Glyphosate on the tea/green leaf producing sector during and after the period of the ban?’ and ‘What have been the effect of the ban on Glyphosate on participants in the tea supply chain?’ The research objectives are to quantify changes in production processes, production and tea production gross margins in different green leaf producing groups, to identify key markets and participants in the supply chain of the tea industry, to analyse and critically assess quantitative and qualitative changes in the commodity parameters and business in each main market level of the tea supply chain, and to estimate welfare changes as a result of the ban on Glyphosate on participants in each market along the tea supply chain and on the industry. Background The tea industry is vital for the Sri Lankan economy. Weed management is important in commercial tea cultivation for a steady and good quality crop that ultimately affects the profitability of the business. Recent Sri Lankan Government policies on herbicide use have been to impose and then remove an island-wide ban on the weedicides that contain Glyphosate. This ban was implemented for purported public health and safety reasons. Opinion and advice about this justification is conflicting. The ban has reportedly had a substantial impact at the farm level and the industry. Methods The case in the study is the tea industry in Sri Lanka. An embedded single-case research design is used. Participants in the tea supply chain are the embedded units of analysis. Expert opinion was used to gather information and select the embedded units. Interviews with embedded units enabled collection of quantitative and qualitative data. An equilibrium displacement model (EDM) was developed to assess the impact of the ban on Glyphosate on consumer and producer surplus (welfare analysis) along the supply chain. Field-level gross margin budgets were developed for typical farm businesses, which enabled calculation of shifts in supply - ‘k’ shifts - specific to tea growing regions and for the whole industry. Description and critical analysis of qualitative data on the changes for tea businesses provided information on production, management practices, input usage, incomes of businesses, and perceptions of the participants in the tea supply chain about the government policy. Results and conclusions Initial results of the field survey will be reported in the paper.