Plantation establishment cost in barren land tends to be very high due to bad soil conditions. Therefore, only sparsely used cropland, scrubland and grassland can be used for energy plantations in Sri Lanka. Land at high altitudes with steep terrain needs to be excluded due to complexities in plantation management. This limits the available land potential to the districts of Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Ampara, Badulla and Monaragala. Also, it is recorded that almost all sparsely used cropland are on chena cultivation, providing basic food and other requirements to many rural families. Therfore, in effect, the actual national potential of land available for energy plantations is limited.