EX 2201: Principles of Human BehaviorGroup 11 - Seedlings

An Agrarian Community : A Case Study in Kalawila Village in the Kalutara District

The invention of farming about 12,000 years ago gave humans access to new food and energy resources.

Farming has dramatically transformed the way humans lived

This eventually led to the development of agrarian civilizations

……… which accelerated collective learning and innovation

Sri Lanka also has a rich agricultural history dating back more than 2500 years

For centuries, agriculture in this island nation was not just an economic activity but a way of life that shaped the society ……..

……. Culture, Religion and Economy

The sustainable and organic agricultural practices of both the near past and the ancient people of Sri Lanka, exemplify the interconnectedness of nature and human life

However, with the green revolution, some of these practices changed

The farmers tended to use new technologies in their farmlands to increase production

More often, technology and ways of farming have negative social and environmental effects.

To bring an overall positive impact, all the components in the system, should be effective or in other words it should be a techno-social effort which is friendly with the environment

Do we still have the features of good old days in our agrarian

societies ?

Case study area: Kalawila in Kalutara District

Objective: Studying the behavior of people who are mainly involved in agriculture

Vegetable farming is one of the main livelihoods in this village

Vegetable farming is one of the main livelihoods in this village

The soils in these area are very conducive for vegetable farming

• Mr. Jayaweera is one of the enthusiastic youths, occupied in cultivating crops that require trellises

• He is a large a scale producer in this village. • He has 3 more brothers who help him in his activities

and all of them solely depend on this business

• This indicates their attitudes and motivation towards agriculture

• Mr. Jayaweera and his brothers are good examples, in a society where people move away from agriculture.

……… the kinship and integrity between the family members greatly contributed to his success

Mr. Jayaweera seemed to be an early adopter who was adopting knowledge and know-how on many agricultural technologies

• Miss. Sama is a middle aged unmarried lady who is living with her sister

• She helps her in cultivation of leafy vegetables, brinjal and chilies, at small scale

• Their harvest is usually taken to the nearby fair by her sister’s son.

• Although they earn a lower income, the two sisters and her sister’s son appear to have very close social interactions

• Sama’s existence as a single lady is assured through these social interactions and it seems they are living happily in a simple life style

• Mr. Sunil and Mrs. Manohari is a couple who are engaged in commercial level farming

• They own a house with basic facilities

• …. and has tea in their home garden

They also plant trellis crops …….

Brinjal ………….

Chilies ……

Manioc ……

and leafy vegetables ……

• Their produce directly goes to the city market• Both of them are equally engaged in farming

activities and marketing• They provide a good example for gender

equality in an agrarian society• Mr. Sunil also owns paddy lands, which are in

the state of land preparation during our visit

There is a considerable extent of paddy lands in this village, but almost all these land are cultivated for home use

Mr. Sirisena is in his old age He who was earlier engaged in the tourism industry Later he has started cultivation of banana, manioc and leafy vegetables for their livelihood at small scale

He gets considerable support from his wifeHis sons who are involved in the tourism industry do not show any interest on agriculture

He highlighted : This village in the vicinity of Bentota which is a tourist attraction, has undergone a considerable social change

Tourist attractions in the village itself ….

They have a fear about younger generation’s move away from agriculture due to labour outmigration to the nearest town …….

……. and also to the city of Colombo

Kalawila is a village that has plantation crops such as tea and rubber.

Tea is grown mainly in home gardens at small scale

Both rubber smallholdings and estates are found in this village

Rubber harvesting is a way of livelihood for some people

• Most of the rubber plantations have been abandoned due to poor prices and also due to scarcity of skilled harvesters

• Further, rubber harvesting has not been identified as a socially acceptable occupation in the society

Agriculture in olden days are entangled with the religion, rituals and beliefs

Almost all the farmers in this area visit the Kande Vihara in the close vicinity of the village

This is especially before the New Year to worship this place with milk rice made up of the harvest

The farmers also believe in ‘vows’, Bodhi Pooja and Gods of Hindus ……

and expect prosperity throughout the year …………..

… and expects prosperity throughout the year …….

• We still observe some salient features of good old days in the Kalawila village. • Yet, there are obvious changes in a

dynamic society, where individuals are influenced by one another's behavior

• The lessons we learnt from this case study are of immense importance to identify the real capacity of this village for agriculture.

• There are opportunities available to produce organic food for the nearby tourist hotels.

• Agro-ecotourism is also a worthy investment to improve the livelihoods of people in this village and it can minimize the labour out migration from this village.

We appreciate the farmers of Kalawila Village for their

unreserved support