Chena cultivation

හේන් වගාව

Chena cultivation, also known as shifting cultivation, is the most primitive type of agriculture known to man from the dawn of civilisation. It involves the clearing of either primeval or second growth of jungle land every year for cultivation of dry-land products such as 'tala', 'amu', 'kurakkan', 'meneri', 'badairingu', 'thana', 'mung', 'bajiri' and varieties of vegetables, which have a ready market as subsidiary crops.

This 'chena' cultivation does not make use of the same piece of land (unlike where paddy is grown) and goes on rotation of crops. The 'chena' cultivator cuts down, at regular intervals, the trees of a small jungle land and set fire to the woody growths as far as possible, to begin cultivation. This virgin land is most suitable for cultivation in view of its rich soil.

Planting

Among the charred stumps and half-burnt tree trunks, the farmer plants his favourite crop, be they cereals, millet of vegetables, and even yams and sweet-potatoes. In certain Asian countries, when it comes to planting cereals, the men take the planting stick, and make little holes on the ground, and the women drops the seeds, and cover them with the use of their feet. As jungle land is generally free from weeds or grasses, and the soil is usually rich in humus (decomposed organic matter in the soil), and well supplied with ash of burnt plant matter after clearing, it produces a very good, or even excellent, first harvest. The second harvest begins to show a decline in yield, and, thereafter, the returns diminish rapidly. Grasses and weeds invade the clearing.

Rather than battle these, the farmer abandons his old 'chena' and cuts and burns a new plot of jungle land elsewhere at his sole discretion. The old plot of land reverts under favourable conditions, to a second-growth, within a few years. 'Chena' cultivation is characterised by a lack of tillage, the soil is hardly disturbed, as no plough turns it.

Rice varieties

Before the introduction of fertiliser-dependant hybrids, there were over four hundred different varieties of rice grown in the country, each with different nutrient values and characteristics. Now only a handful of rice strains are widely grown - almost all of which are hybrids. When Ulpotha was first established, rare indigenous rice seeds were carefully collected for their taste and high nutritional value from small traditional farmers all over Sri Lanka and a small seed bank established. In this way Ulpotha has, over the last several years, developed quantities of very rare, pure strains of high quality, indigeneous rice for distribution and planting in outlying organic farms under its supervision. As a result this rice is now more widely available than it has been in many generations and in quantities that allow some to be exported in limited quantities.In nutirional content, texture, appearance, aroma and - most importantly - taste, they are unlike any other rice.

Kaluheenati, which literally means dark, fine grain, is a highly nutritious red rice that is considered to have medicinal properties, and is particularly recommended for lactating mothers.

Murungakayan is a whole grain red rice that is high in nutritional value.

Kuruwee literally means 'small rice', and is a sweet and soft red rice.

Gonabaru is a very rare old variety of red rice that formed the staple diet of both peasant and king.

Dhikwee is a soft and wholesome red rice that is high in nutritional value.

Pachchaperumal is a wholesome short grain red rice that when cooked takes on a deep rich burgundy colour. Pachchuperumal means 'Buddha's colour' and has been considered a divine rice in traditional Singhalese culture. It has been used for centuries in 'Danes' (offerings to the monks during a thanksgiving or vow to the gods for rain, protection of crops etc)

Samba is a soft and delicious white rice that has been the traditional rice of choice for festivities and alms-giving.

Suwandel is a rare white rice that is, as its translated name implies, fragrant.

Life in the village

What we today designate as a 'village" is often a product of urban planning and has hardly anything indigenous about it. Important as these communities are in ushering, us into the 'modern age," it is equally important to realize that our traditional village has a worthiness that can never be evaluated in material terms. Indeed, the spiritual principles that are operative in these traditional communities may be the only solution to a world fast being destroyed by materialism.

Puranagamas island-wide are linked by common cultural patterns based on food habits. Rice comes first. Just fifty years ago, Sri Lanka had more than 280 varieties of rice.

For example, heenati rice was grown for lactating mothers. Kanni murunga, another variety, was grown for men going out to work in the fields. Suvandel was cultivated for its extraordinary fragrance. Monks who did not eat after noon were given a special variety grown over six to eight months called mawee, which possesses a high-protein content. Today, there are 10 to 15 varieties commonly cultivated.

Loss of traditional genetic resources and indigenous knowledge

Many species, once plentiful, are now found in smaller numbers and some are considered to be threatened. Many species of medicinal and ornamental plants and timber have been over exploited. Some of the species are endangered. Genetic degradation occurs from more purposeful human action intended to increase food production.

Modern agriculture in Sri Lanka, particularly rice, relies increasingly on a few improved varieties with a narrow genetic base displacing the traditional varieties. Thus traditional varieties are among categories of crop germplasm that have been under the threat of genetic erosion in the last 20-30 years. The present traditional rice varieties under cultivation have dwindled to about 5% of total paddy acreage.

Transferring of indigenous knowledge from generation to generation has ended because now it has been replaced by modern scientific knowledge, influx of high yielded modern varieties and migration of people from villages to cities. The present generation, already accustomed to the modern technology, is not prepared to carry the indigenous knowledge over to the next generation. Therefore, in view of its value to the sustainable development, immediate steps should be taken to collect, document and preserve the indigenous knowledge before it is lost forever.

Genetic and Species Diversity of Sri Lanka

Genetic and species diversity has special significance for the maintenance and enhancement of productivity in agricultural crops in Sri Lanka, which is characterized by highly varied agro-climatic and diverse growing conditions. Such diversity provides security for the farmer against diseases, pests, drought and other stresses. The genetic diversity also allows farmers to exploit the full range of highly varied micro-environments in the country, differing in characteristics such as soil, water, temperature, altitude, slope and fertility.

The presence of heterogeneous agro-ecological conditions with seasonal and inter-annual variation, socio-cultural and ethnic differences, application of different traditional farming practices including dry and wet land farming, deliberate and inadvertent selection of varieties and various systems of beliefs allow to develop various indigenous and traditional cultivation practices and techniques for selection, conservation and utilization of planting materials.

Further, these traditional farmers represent centuries of accumulated experience and skills of peasants who often sustained yields under adverse farming conditions using locally available resources. The foundation for such farming comprises of the traditional landraces. Landraces are crop plant populations that have not been bred as varieties but have been adapted through years of natural and artificial selection to the conditions under which they are cultivated. Maintenance of species and genetic diversity in farmer’s fields is essential to sustain agriculture, especially for resource poor farmers practicing agriculture under low-input conditions in marginal lands.

Indigenous knowledge has been brought down from generation to generation and forms part of the information base for a society. The indigenous knowledge can be defined as local knowledge that is unique to a given culture or society. Each society has a variety of types of knowledge systems. Indigenous people have a wide knowledge of the ecosystem they live in and ways to ensure that natural resources are used sustainably. Therefore, indigenous knowledge which has been accumulated over centuries has potential value for sustainable development. It can help other people to learn how to live in the natural world in a sustainable fashion as well as to develop agronomic practices for cultivation and utilization of materials.

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