Background

Vanilla is a cash crop that can be grown successfully in mid and low country wet zone where the main growing areas are Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Matale, and Kegalle districts. In Sri Lanka vanilla is mainly confined as home garden and grown in the back yards. Vanilla grows as vines with support trees.

Vanilla has been identified as an ideal alternative crop for unproductive tea small holdings and home gardens. Low labor requirement and higher income are main advantages of vanilla cultivation and therefore women can use their free time for vanilla cultivation.

Another advantage would be that the Vanilla  only needs organic fertilizer. A vanilla tree can produce nearly a kilo of vanilla a year and average market price would be around Rs. 6,000/ Kg.