Sri Lanka’s farming systems particularly rice, other field crops and home gardening have evolved over thousands of years including a rich array of farming systems and the cultivated plants such as rice, grains, vegetables, fruits, spices etc and livestock. New crop varieties emerged formally and informally. In addition, many farmers have selected local landraces. The long history of cultivation, presence of cultural diversity and wide range of ecological landscape situations present in the country have resulted in a wide variety of farming practices in Sri Lanka.

The excavations in citadel of Anuradhapura produced important evidence of iron technology, breeding of horses and cattle and paddy cultivation, from cultural horizons nearly ten meters below the present ground surface. There is also incidental evidence (faunal, sedimentological) of water management associated with paddy cultivation. Agriculture would undoubtedly have been dominated by paddy, which can only be intensified in Sri Lanka’s dry zone by the adoption of water management measures to control supplies from seasonal rainfall, streams and perennial rivers (Deraniyagala, 2002).

Green Revolution

Traditional knowledge in agriculture not documented and neglected without adoption has been largely lost. There are still some food materials, which are generally consumed by peasant sector remained with them. Traditional seeds were preserved and regularly used in the past but have been replaced by introduced varieties during last few decades. The Green Revolution led most of our farmers to move away from traditional rice farming to modern rice cultivation.

Knowledge on various practices and technologies has been built up over time. They could find best practices on how grains are stored for consumption as well as for seed requirement without any quality deterioration. Beliefs are synthesized with disasters, worries, failures and successes experienced through generations.

They protected forest, watersheds, medicinal species and various pious places and materials. Simple tools and implements were developed to deal with many operations that the community had to perform in their daily life.

Religious festivals were organized with different objectives but led to strengthen their social solidity and self-motivation. Materials had been identified from natural environment to be utilized for housing construction, basketry and other craft industries.

The diversity of the ecosystems provided a natural setting for the adaptation of agricultural system capable of producing foods to sustain large population. Traditional wisdom in agriculture and the living have not evolved within few decades. It is a long timetested knowledge, which created an environmentally adapted, disaster tolerant and sustainable living system.

Cultivation time

Their agriculture had been adjusted to absorb any weather vagaries by shifting the cultivation time and selecting farming practices. They cultivated chena and paddy lands according to the seasonality of rains thus; at least they could get a successful harvest from one cultivation.

Kekulama (dry sowing), Bethma (shared cultivation), Thaulu govithena (tank bed cultivation) etc., are the best examples showing how they could avert the drought effects on their farming.

Traditional communities made every attempt to conserve soil, water and natural habitat. Food security was one of the in-built aspects of their culture. Use of groundwater for agriculture was never practised by them and it assured the water security.

An adequate dead storage was found in tanks to be utilized during dry period for all purposes and had been the only source of water for cattle and wild animals.

There was a broad diversity in flora and fauna and the availability of water in the tank during the dry period assured the survival of them. Sharing resources equally and the equity of ownership were the most striking features of their culture, which led to build up a peaceful and sustainable rural society.

Environmental pollution was not a topic for discussion. With the disappearance of the features discussed above the whole system was subjected to deteriorate socially, physically and economically leaving vulnerability to disasters with them.

Best practices in rice farming

As rice farming is not an overnight wonder, it has evolved while facing challenges imposed by nature in form of drought, flood, cyclone, epidemics etc. Thus, the skills of farming developed include various types of best practices, which could be adopted even within the present arena of rice cultivation.

About publisher and author

Under the Mahinda Chinthana import of wheat flour had been discourage rice growing practices had been encourage. As a social service organization FIOH decided to contribute to the above factor.

At present, the FIOH is operational as a leading resource organization in the Uva Province. It also has been actively engaged in documentation and conducting research on indigenous practices in agriculture and health sector since 1999. The organization has investigated ritual, astrological and spiritual aspects of traditional agriculture. Up to now we have documented traditional rice farming, indigenous food practices, indigenous home remedies and ethno veterinary practices in the Uva Province of Sri Lanka.

Poverty of peasant communities is not only due to lack of resources but also due to lack of using their endogenous skills to utilize available resources efficiently for their well-being. Future In Our Hands Development Fund is an organization established in 1986 and work with people to develop their capabilities to enable them to be active in a self-reliant and sustainable development process. The wish of the FIOH is to see the peasant communities living in a prosperous and harmonious life in an environmentally friendly and sustainable atmosphere.

Considering the above background FIOH decided to engaged in research and published two books one in Sinhala and one in English. Dr. P.B. Dharmasena, former Deputy Director of Mahailuppallama Research Centre and former lecturer in Agriculture of the Peradeniya University was the researcher and the editor of the book.

The writer is the CEO, Future In Our Hands Development Fund, Badulla.