International Conference on Sri Lanka Studies (ICSLS)
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Item Contribution of Commonly used Medicinal Plants to the Natural Products Market in Sri Lanka(University of Kelaniya, 2005) Withanage, K.W.M.L.; Gunawardena, U.A.D.P.About 35% of the population in the country is primarily dependent on Ayurveda and traditional systems of health care. However, the economic values of medicinal plants have not yet been established leading to non -recognition of their values which lead to inefficient level of conservation. The main goal of the research was to investigate how the medicinal plants contribute to the natural product market. It is achieved through two specific objectives. The first is determination of market value of commonly used medicinal plants used in Ayurvedic drug preparation industries and secondly, determination of market value of commonly used medicinal plants in Ayurvedic retail sale centres. A mail survey was conducted using structured questionnaires for Ayurvedic drug preparation units and a face to face interview has been carried out for retail centres. Data was gathered by retail sale shops in seven districts and 10% from each were surveyed. A sensitivity analysis on the result revealed the economic value of medicinal plants for Ayurvedic drug preparation units. According to the results, the annual economic value of medicinal plants which are used in drug production units was Rs. 53.33 million and the value for retail sale centres was Rs. 49.35 million. The total annual national economic value of medicinal plants was Rs.102.69 million. A sensitivity analysis on production and tax increase on imported medicinal plants reveal that a considerable amount of foreign exchange could be saved in the future, if conservation and planting programmes were carried out. The estimated value is considered to be an underestimation since some multiple values of certain medicinal plants such as food, spice and non-use values, and the value of some plants as household remedies have not been included in the above estimate. Such economic values on medicinal plants will, however, provide important criteria for formulation of policy decisions to manage and conserve the medicinal plantsItem Development Strategies in Sri Lanka: Lessons Drawn from a Comparative Review(University of Kelaniya, 2005) Fernando, R.L.S.Unbalanced development is a major cause of social disharmony and unrest as it widens the gap between the rich and the poor. Achieving a sustainable and balanced development is a major challenge for developing countries, and Sri Lanka is no exception. Sri Lanka has been experiencing various development strategies for the last five decades, but the country has yet to achieve at least its most basic development goals. This paper attempts to evaluate two main development strategies implemented by the successive governments of Sri Lanka. They are the import substitution strategies with a high degree of state intervention implemented from 1970 to 1976, and the privatization and free market policies implemented after the 1977 up to the present. It is evident that the results of these development strategies are not much satisfactory. It is also evident that the very state interventionist strategies had contributed to social unrest and disharmony in the country because of a high incidence of unemployment and poverty. The latter strategy has also contributed to the same, as only a few groups of people have highly benefited from these existing development processes. Therefore, it is imperative to search an alternative approach to the development process towards a long-term sustainable economy. In this regard, a balanced approach in which both active and strong, but more selective government intervention with the market mechanism would be proposed as an alternative model for development as the final goal of the development would be to improve the quality of life of the majority of its citizen. The study is mainly based on the secondary data issued by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and other related documents. The analysis will be mostly descriptive in nature and some economic and social indicators will also be used as appropriate.