Land suitability for sustainable rubber cultivation in Moneragala district

With respect to rainfall, the current rubber growing areas are suitable for rubber planting. However, the DS divisions, Kataragama, Tanamalwila and Siyambalanduwa are relatively drier. Nearly, 97 % of the land extent in the district has a mean annual temperature between 230C to 270C, which is desirable for rubber. Majority of the land area (67%) belongs to the elevation category below 200 m above mean sea level. Most of the lands belong to the slope category of less than 20% which is desirable and only 1% of the lands belong to greater than 45% slope. There is no limitation with respect to rockiness in the selected sites of Moneragala district. Water tables less than 1 m were not observed in any of the locations. The soil depth is found in the desirable range (>1 m). The pH levels are well within the desirable range of 4 to 6. Yet, the observed organic matter content (OMC) was found in the limiting range. The study identified the available lands, viz. barren lands, grasslands, shrub lands and under- utilized lands through GIS approach and nearly 6% (34,752 ha) of the identified land can be categorized under most suitable lands for cultivation of rubber in the Moneragala district. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/jepsl.v3i1.7313 Journal of Environmental Professionals Sri Lanka, Vol. 3 No. 1 2014, 48-6