Having reached a surplus paddy production in the country from mid-2000, government emphasis was placed on the development of Other Field Crop (OFC) sector to achieve self-sufficiency targets of many other crops that can be produced in the country. Nevertheless, the performance of this sector in the past had not been promising. This document explores issues that are an impediment for the expansion of the OFC sector in Sri Lanka. The study identified the main farming system i.e. Chena that had been practiced in the dry zone for many years and supplied bulk of the OFC in the country. This traditional system had evolved into several farming systems in the past due to a number of factors. Economic factors, chiefly market prices and trade policies, have been important determinants in the expansion of OFC cultivation in the Country. The author has recommended that there is a need to explore the feasibility of mechanized large scale commercial cultivation of OFCs and a suitable institutional set up to be established in the dry zones.