International Conference on Sri Lanka Studies (ICSLS)

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    Evaluation of Feed Management Strategies in Shrimp Culture Ponds in Sri Lanka
    (University of Kelaniya, 2005) Epa, U.P.K.; Wijeyaratne, M.J.S.; de Silva, S.S.
    Shrimp exports have become one of Sri Lanka’s major foreign exchange earners and accounts for nearly 90% of total aquaculture exports. The average feed costs for the Sri Lankan shrimp culture industry is estimated to be around 54% of the total recurrent costs. This study evaluated different feed management strategies in commercial shrimp farms with a view to bringing about improvements. Five shrimp farms with different management practices in the north western province, Sri Lanka were selected for the study. Feed selection, storage methods, feed types, feeding frequency, ration size, feeding tray monitoring, adjustments to feeding rates, and feed conversion ratios (FCR), specific growth rate (SGR) of shrimp were recorded weekly. Blind feeding was employed in all the farms from date of stocking to 30 – 45 days. It varied from 131.5 – 219.8 kg/ 100,000 post larvae and did not increase simultaneously with stocking density. No correlation was found between the amount of feed given with SGR during the blind feeding period (p > 0.05). These results suggest the probability of over feeding during the initial stage of the culture cycle. Adjustments to feeding rates were done according to feed tray (6 – 8 trays / ha) observations, feeding guide supplied by feed manufactures and theoretical survival calculations. Feed tray observation time varied from 1 h to 2.30 h. Feeding frequency was 2 – 6 times a day. Higher variation of these parameters emphasizes the need to standardize them for optimum feed usage. Four feed management information transfer channels were identified in shrimp farms. These were (i) owner - feed marketing officer (ii) labourer – manager - consultant (iii) supervisor - manager (iv) manager only. FCR values in the farms were 2.0, 1.5, 1.4, 1.4 – 1.3 with SGR of 2.5, 2.9, 3.3, 2.6 day-1, respectively. Information channels (i) and (ii) resulted in higher FCR values. It is suggested to pay more attention on information transfer channels in order to avoid over- feeding. Blind feeding, feeding frequencies and information transfer channels were identified as crucial areas that could be improved for the sustainable shrimp culture industry in Sri Lanka. With these improvements, the cost of feeding could also be minimized.
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    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.