Rubber ( Hevea brasiliensis ) plays a vital role in livelihood development of smallholder farmers in Sri Lanka. However, farmers have to bear the absence of cash inflow during the 6–7 years long immature period. Therefore, most of the farmers adopt rubber-based agroforestry as a subsidiary source of income. This study focuses on the analysis of poverty incidence in the presence of different rubber-based agroforestry practices in Moneragala district, Sri Lanka. It uses the official poverty line for this district defined by the Department of Census and Statistics Sri Lanka to determine the poverty level of households. The study employs binary logistic regression to analyse the poverty incidence with selected household socio-economic variables and rubber-based agroforestry practices. Household characteristics, including education, other agricultural income, and non-farm income show a significant relationship with the reduction of poverty while the larger household size contributed to higher poverty. Probability of reducing poverty is highest in dairy cattle farming (97%) followed by groundnut (89%), pepper (85%), and cocoa (84%) agroforestry practices and they were found to be significant in poverty reduction at the household level. The study implies that rubber-based agroforestry options must be revitalised according to the poverty reduction abilities. At the same time, extension intervention with suitable institutional arrangement should address the need for rubber-based agroforestry practices, including banana, maize, and passionfruit. Findings of this study are, therefore recommended that government agencies should further focus on existing policies to introduce commercial crops to enhance the productivity and profitability of rubber lands. It is necessary to focus on the agricultural support programme for encouraging farmers to adopt groundnut, dairy cattle, pepper, and cocoa rubber agroforestry practices.

中文翻译：

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以橡胶为基础的农林业实践能否增强对贫困发生率的抵御能力？斯里兰卡莫内拉加拉区的案例研究

橡胶（巴西橡胶树）在斯里兰卡小农的生计发展中发挥着至关重要的作用。然而，农民不得不忍受6-7年的不成熟期没有现金流入。因此，大多数农民采用以橡胶为基础的农林业作为辅助收入来源。本研究的重点是分析斯里兰卡莫内拉加拉地区不同橡胶农林业实践中的贫困发生率。它使用斯里兰卡人口普查和统计部定义的该地区的官方贫困线来确定家庭的贫困水平。该研究采用二元逻辑回归分析选定的家庭社会经济变量和基于橡胶的农林业实践的贫困发生率。家庭特征，包括教育，其他农业收入和非农收入与减贫显着相关，而较大的家庭规模则导致更严重的贫困。奶牛养殖（97%）的减贫概率最高，其次是花生（89%）、胡椒（85%）和可可（84%）农林业实践，发现它们对家庭层面的减贫具有重要意义. 该研究意味着必须根据减贫能力振兴以橡胶为基础的农林业选择。同时，具有适当制度安排的推广干预应满足对基于橡胶的农林业实践的需求，包括香蕉、玉米和百香果。本研究的结果是，因此建议政府机构应进一步关注现有政策，引进经济作物，以提高橡胶地的生产力和盈利能力。有必要将重点放在鼓励农民采用花生、奶牛、胡椒和可可橡胶农林业的农业支持计划上。