Indigenous Knowledge of Sri Lankan Farming
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Introduction
According to the history of Sri Lanka, people who came from India accompanied with prince of Wijaya settled around the rivers. This is mainly because the river basins are most suitable for cultivation. Since Rice cultivation can easily be done near rivers due to early access to water, it has been a common cultivation among dwellers.
However, some people engaged on shifting agriculture which is known as Chena cultivation apart from rivers or water reservoirs. Chena cultivators are growing crops by using rain fed water and hence they have a knowledge about the rainy season on the area. They prepare land for expected crops before the rain and used knowledge of sessional variation of rain and winds. This knowledge was continuing generation by generation. Meanwhile, some engage in small farming specially limited to home garden aiming at producing vegetables, fruits, grains etc.
During the era of Ceylon kingdom, most of the kings attempted develop rice cultivation in Sri Lanka. As a result, major irrigation works have been originated in North-central province. Large number of tanks as well as anicuts were built to store water for cultivation. Therefore, Capitals of kingdoms had been setup in areas of Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and North-Central Provinceknown as Rajarata. Due to state patronization on Agricultural infrastructure facilities, Sri Lanka was self-sufficient country with rice in some years. However, later due to foreign invaders, agriculture in Rajarata was diminished. people fled who fled to wet Zone in Sri Lanka engaged in rice cultivation by using experiences and knowledge acquired from Rajarata farming. However, due to invaders from western countriesinto wet zone, rice cultivation has been declined again and commercial agriculture was setup by foreigners.
Although Sri Lankan commercial agriculture has been established on this manner, Majority of the people has depended on rice cultivation continued in several centuries. Therefore, social activities of the Sinhala population have been mostly tied up with rice cultivation. Buddhism, being main religion, has leaded people. Culture is mostly combined with doctrines of the Buddhism. Based on these facts, Agricultural impact on culture and societies of Sri Lanka can be focused on the categories such as:- Farming Language, Folk Songs,Ballad, Folk Drama, Fable, Folk Tales, Proverbs, Riddles, Charms, kids' Games (please see right side links for more details)