Unleashing Farm Potential: The Role of Entrepreneurial Orientation for Jaffna Banana Growers

Abstract

Banana (Musa spp.) is an attractive perennial crop for smallholder farmers that is the most widely grown and consumed fruit in Sri Lanka. Despite the crop’s importance and attraction, the banana sub-sector encounters diminishing yields, poor income diversification, price fluctuation, climate impacts, and inefficient procedures. As a result, this study aimed to look into the levels of Entrepreneurial Orientation demonstrated by smallholder banana growers in Jaffna to determine how these levels affect farm performance. Due to the high level of banana growing in the Jaffna District, a multistage sampling technique was used to sample 345 smallholder banana growers in the Valikamam and Thenmarachchi regions. The Cumulative 97% of the Extent of Cultivation was covered to select the sampling frame. The data has been examined using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings revealed that the overall farm performance of these banana growers was positively and significantly impacted by innovativeness, risk-taking, proactiveness, education, experience, and access to training at different levels or magnitudes. The survey found that the vast majority of Jaffna farmers have medium entrepreneurial abilities. As a method for boosting farm performance, smallholder farmers should be given adequate training and knowledge of current farming technologies, as well as take initiatives to improve their entrepreneurial orientation