DOCSLIB.ORG

Towards Sustainable Management of Chena/Unirrigated Highland Cultivation in Sri Lanka

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Towards Sustainable Management of Chena/Unirrigated Highland Cultivation in Sri Lanka Towards Sustainable Management of Chena/Unirrigated Highland Cultivation in Sri Lanka Introduction lowlands and the dry zone hill Dr.M.U.A. Tennakoon country of Sri Lanka too, when the Former Executive Director, his paper attempts to analyse country's population density was Central Bank of Sri Lanka, chena cultivation in Sri low. It is still being practised in Sri Presently, Visiting Research TLanka from its historical Lanka as chena cultivation which Fellow, Hector Kobbekaduwa evolution as shifting cultivation to is a shifting form of agriculture Agrarian Research and the present-day stabilised highland where once a patch of forest is Training Institute, Colombo. farming, aiming at making chosen, slashed it using ordinary recommendations for more implements (axes, bill-hooks sustainable land management in knives, etc.), debris are burnt and chenas. It is divided into five parts. the bared thin soil veneer is and g) the ability to rotate crops Part I explains what the chena scratched and seeds are sown from season to season as required. cultivation is and traces its during two or three seasons the The origin of chana cultivation can evolution and distribution, before most. With the progressive weed be traced back to the tail-end of the dealing with the types of chenas, infestation and the decline in soil Iron Age (1000 -500 B.C.) in Sri methods of farming and the fertility, the land is abandoned in Lanka, where the man has learnt first to use crude iron implements combinations of crops grown to favour of yet another patch of forest which were further improved withstand rainfall vagaries seeking for a fresh clearing for cultivation. enough subsequently to slash or food security in Part II. Then, Part When the population pressure on hack bushes and plants of soft III will address the government land was low, it took 10 to 15 years wood types to clear tiny patches of chena policy, physical expansion of or more to reopen a rejuvenated land. With the continued chenas as a supplementation of forest in an abandoned old chena improvement of such iron tools, by wetland rice production down the site for the cultivation of a new 400 B.C. (Deraniyagala 1992), the ages, ensuring food security, chena. With the reduction of forest hunter-gatherers were able to cut notably during the late nineteenth extents available for clearing, some even the tough hard-wooded trees and twentieth centuries. The of the old chenas, without in the dry zone forest to clear subsequent transformation of the abandonment, have been extents of forest land, sufficient for shifting nature of chena cultivation transformed in to a type of semi­ a family for chena cultivation into a form of stabilised upland permanent or permanent upland • (Panabokke, 2009). highland farming (UHF) with least highland farms (UHFs). care for the forest, soil and environment leading to The ancient hunter-gatherers would The subsistence and have temporarily stayed closer to a undesirable consequences in land supplementary advantages of this water hole - a rudimentary pond - management will be discussed in method of cultivation include: a) its because, like food, water was a life- Part IV. Finally, as a solution to the ability to provide food early and giver to them. They may have hunted dilemma faced by the government, spread over a long time; b) its animals, gathered edible roots, that is, whether to allow or not to significance in raising food from fruits and nuts within the periphery allow UHF, specific highland cultivation; c) its low cost of a limited forest range and when recommendations for the evolution of production; d) simplicity and the supplies dwindled there, due to of a sustainable land management affordability of its technology in natural causes or exhausted due use; e) its ability to adjust to a are made in Part V. to over exploitation of food variable rainfall environment where resources, they may have shifted Part I at least some crops are able to to yet another once familiar forest thrive and able to provide food environment also with a source of Slash and burn method of highland depending on the moisture needs water to meet their domestic food farming which once remained of the different crops; f) low labour and water needs. As hunter- widespread throughout the humid inputs required notably when labour gatherers,' they may have realised Tropics in Latin America, Africa and inputs are concurrently required for Asia (Gourou, 1953) was widely that their food leftovers of nuts, wetland rice farming elsewhere; practised mostly in the dry zone seeds and roots casually thrown 10 Economic Review: April/ May 2010 — into the nearby garbage heaps have settlement in association with 'subsistence affluence' with a germinated, rooted, grew up with reliable water storages, and it may dominancy over chena cultivation, the passage of time and fruited not have taken a very long time to making it only a supplementary adding some amounts of food to evolve a wetland rice cultivation source of food. their food-basket. This would have system downstream of those water convinced them that wild food storages with the use of simple Part II plants can be domesticated adding gravity-guided irrigation during the In the words of B.H.Farmer (1957), food to their food-basket collected dry spells, in addition to the already though "it cannot be doubted that in the wild. familiar chena cultivation. chena cultivation dates from ancient times," our chronicles and This conviction would have lead that rice cultivation was The notion inscriptions do not throw a clear them to take to orderly growing of introduced to Sri Lanka only by the light on this mode of cultivation such wild roots, grain-seeds and Aryan settlers who arrived here, during the Anuradhapura and fruit plants or seeds in small has been put into serious Polonnaruwa periods. It was only patches of forest cleared, closer to challenge, emphasising that even during the Dambadeniya period of where they temporarily camped. irrigated rice cultivation prevailed our medieval history, that, some When food supply from the grown in Sri Lanka before the advent of reference to chena cultivation has plants and seeds became more the Aryans. Supporting this reliable than uncertain collection been made by the monk-author of argument, Panabokke (2009) says, of wild food, these hunter- Saddharmaratanavaliya, a literary "it should be emphasised that gatherers would have gradually work.Thereafter, no known wetland rice cultivation in Its shifted to a rudimentary form of authentic references had been early form was purely an farming for which clearing small made to chena cultivation until the indigenous development and patches of land was necessary. British administration firmly not one introduced by early With the passage of time, the role established here in the early Aryan settlers as is often stated of that rudimentary farming might nineteenth century. by some historians and have become the principal source scholars". It may also be possible of food, but some hunting and It was certainly under the British that different varieties of rice were gathering may have continued as administration that proper secondary sources of food grown in highland chenas and in documentation of chena cultivation procurement. wetlands. Even today, el vee is practices have come into regarded as a variety of rain-fed existence.The British writers such highland paddy. This faming would have as Tennent (1859) and Forbes necessitated periods of longer stays (1840) and administrators of the near the rudimentary ponds that It could be seen in the evolution North Central Province like they camped and that would also process described above, that even R.W.levers (1899) have made many have necessitated improvement of before the Christian Era an authentic records on chena those rudimentary ponds to ensure advanced human civilisation cultivation in their diaries which more assured supplies of water to thrived in this country based on they preserved very carefully, meet their domestic needs permanent settlements besides levers, published his authentic uninterruptedly. Thus, Panabokke tank storages, being dependant on study of Manual of the North (2009) contends that by the second wetland rice farming and chena Central Province in 1899, having century B.C. the early prototype of cultivation for food security. The thoroughly studied the province the small village tanks evolved from uniqueness of chena cultivation in with painstaking field work these rudimentary pond Sri Lanka is that, unlike in other undertaken almost over a decade, improvements, and he further countries in the humid Tropics, which refers to many aspects of states that, "at this stage of there is a harmonious blend of both chena cultivation in the north evolution, it should be very clearly chena and wetland rice farming central dry zone. The British recognised that chena cultivation evolved by the early inhabitants of Government Agents' diaries with kurakkan [Eleucine coracana,) a permanent village settlements. In maintained in the Anuradhapura crop of antiquity, had been the the early period of hunter-gatherers Kachcheri, Final Village Plans main cereal component* in their transforming themselves into a (FVPP) prepared and the numerous farming. The significance of the farming livelihood, chena petitions filed by the villagers evolution of small tanks from cultivation seems to have been the in respect of their seeking rudimentary ponds and chena dominant food supplier. With permission to clear forest patches cultivation is that there evolved a subsequent irrigation development, for chena cultivation,complaints on system of more permanent wetland rice farming achieved a losses caused to the cultivation by 11 Economic Review: April/ May 2010 rampaging wild animals, drought kepeem, that is, pruning or lopping environment all round, pausing effects on chenas, methods of off the young tree-head branches serious threats to human forest clearing for chena cultivation each of the size of a human arm at survival have been retold by Government the eye level.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Title Exploring the Link Between Culture and Biodiversity in Sri Lanka
    Exploring the link between culture and biodiversity in Sri Title Lanka Author(s) Madduma Bandara, C. M. SANSAI : An Environmental Journal for the Global Citation Community (2009), 4: 1-23 Issue Date 2009-12 URL http://hdl.handle.net/2433/110021 Right Type Journal Article Textversion publisher Kyoto University Exploring the link between culture and biodiversity in Sri Lanka C. M. M699JB6 B6C96G6 Abstract: This paper highlights the importance of adopting culture-based strategies in addressing certain issues of environmental conservation and management in Sri Lanka, a country where links between nature and culture have historically been strong. It focuses on the link between culture and biodiversity in fields such as flora, fauna, ecosystems and local culture, which includes agriculture, lifestyles and place names. It also examines the policy significance of this focus, demonstrated most recently by the Sri Lankan government’s support for and promotion of recent initiatives to designate specific flowers as provincial floral emblems, issue biodiversity-themed postage stamps and retain the custom of using biodiversity-related place names. It is suggested that people’s traditional modes of interacting with and comprehending their natural environment may be fostered or harnessed through progressive government policy, not only in Sri Lanka but in other countries where traditional nature-based cultural practices continue to thrive. Keywords: Sri Lanka, culture and biodiversity, traditional knowledge, flora, fauna, ecosystems, agricultural biodiversity, place names, policy 1. Introduction 1.1 Why explore the relationship between culture and biodiversity? Nature conservation efforts in most countries have achieved only limited success, despite heavy investment. This suggests that some of the more commonly adopted and exclusively scientific, political, economic, or legislative strategies for nature conservation and environmental protection are not working effectively.
    [Show full text]
  • Ancient Water Management and Governance in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka Until Abandonment, and the Influence of Colonial Politics During Reclamation
    water Article Ancient Water Management and Governance in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka Until Abandonment, and the Influence of Colonial Politics during Reclamation Nuwan Abeywardana * , Wiebke Bebermeier * and Brigitta Schütt Department of Earth Sciences, Physical Geography, Freie Universität Berlin, Malteserstr. 74-100, 12249 Berlin, Germany; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] (N.A.), [email protected] (W.B.) Received: 30 October 2018; Accepted: 21 November 2018; Published: 27 November 2018 Abstract: The dry-zone water-harvesting and management system in Sri Lanka is one of the oldest historically recorded systems in the world. A substantial number of ancient sources mention the management and governance structure of this system suggesting it was initiated in the 4th century BCE (Before Common Era) and abandoned in the middle of the 13th century CE (Common Era). In the 19th century CE, it was reused under the British colonial government. This research aims to identify the ancient water management and governance structure in the dry zone of Sri Lanka through a systematic analysis of ancient sources. Furthermore, colonial politics and interventions during reclamation have been critically analyzed. Information was captured from 222 text passages containing 560 different records. 201 of these text passages were captured from lithic inscriptions and 21 text passages originate from the chronicles. The spatial and temporal distribution of the records and the qualitative information they contain reflect the evolution of the water management and governance systems in Sri Lanka. Vast multitudes of small tanks were developed and managed by the local communities. Due to the sustainable management structure set up within society, the small tank systems have remained intact for more than two millennia.
    [Show full text]
  • Resisting Development: Land and Labour in Israeli, Palestinian and Sri Lankan Literature Nicola Anne Robinson Phd University Of
    Resisting Development: Land and Labour in Israeli, Palestinian and Sri Lankan Literature ! Nicola Anne Robinson ! ! PhD ! University of York ! English ! September 2014 ! ! ABSTRACT ! This thesis examines literary representations which depict the evolution of capitalist development in narratives by Israeli, Palestinian and Sri Lankan writers. This comparative study is the first of its kind to bring the contexts of Israel/Palestine and Sri Lanka together. Collectively, my chapters analyse a range of literary texts by writers including Yosef Brenner, Sahar Khalifeh, Punyakante Wijenaike and Ambalavaner Sivanandan which explore the separatist ethnonational conflicts. I focus on narratives which critique the dominant discourse of development in their societies, through the formal and literary strategies that the writers utilise such as utopia, realism and melodrama. I argue that the texts I consider draw attention to the impact of uneven development on the content and form of literature in order to resist the current dispensation. This resistance is invaluable when one considers that development continues to be a contentious and divisive issue in Israel/Palestine, Sri Lanka and beyond today, yet one that has clear implications for sustainable peace. As a result, my research highlights that literature can play an invaluable role in anticipating, if not imagining, alternatives to the current world order. ! ! ! ! ! ! !2 Table of Contents ! ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................2
    [Show full text]
  • The Devolution of Government in Sri Lanka:Legal Aspects of the Relationship Between Central and Local Government an Historical A
    THE DEVOLUTION OF GOVERNMENT IN SRI LANKA:LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CENTRAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT AN HISTORICAL AND COMPARATIVE STUDY A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON AS AN INTERNAL STUDENT OF THE SCHOOL OF ORIENTAL AND AFRICAN STUDIES FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY. SHIRANI ANSHUMALA BANDARANAYAKE JANUARY 1986 ProQuest Number: 11010518 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 11010518 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 Abstract In the context of recently accentuated communal divisions in Sri Lanka,the thesis seeks to examine how far present schemes for the decentralisation of Government provide for a degree of local autonomy which may be sufficient to accomodate divisive and S£C.£.£>£ionist tendencies. The question is approached through an analysis of the legal elements In the relationships between the central and local government authorities,traced through the historical evolution of the law from ancient times and specially from the early colonial period. The thesis contains eleven Chapters including a general introduction and a conclusion and is divided into three parts.
    [Show full text]
  • Role of Human Agency in the Transformation of the Biogeography of Sri Lanka
    Ceylon Journal of Science 46 (Special Issue) 2017: 19-31 DOI: http://doi.org/10.4038/cjs.v46i5.7452 RESEARCH ARTICLE Role of human agency in the transformation of the biogeography of Sri Lanka P. Wickramagamage* Department of Geography,University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. Received: 20/11/2016; Accepted: 18/03/2017 Abstract: The area referred to as the ‘Central Highlands of Sri the Wet Zone of Sri Lanka are separated by a dry lowland Lanka’, despite being the venue of a thin scatter of ‘Stone Age’ plain, it might have acted as a barrier to dispersal of plants human settlements was sparsely populated by man throughout and animals (Bossuyt et al., 2004). It should also be noted the island’s ‘Pre-Modern Era’, and much of it, especially at its that the climate of this area may not have been similar to higher elevations remaining under primeval forest cover. In what it is today during the last glacial period. Based on the late medieval times when this highland area became a part of present climate, the authors referred to above conclude that the ‘Kandyan Kingdom’, its forest-clad localities, except those the Wet Zone of Sri Lanka could be considered as an insular that were appurtenant to village settlement ecology, tended to be biogeographic region with its distinctive characteristics. strictly protected under royal decree. The island’s elevation ranges from the sea level to The cultivation of coffee on large areas of land – over 2,500m, with a range of microclimatic sub-regions. ‘plantations’ or ‘estates’ –commenced as a major economic Associated with these microclimatic regions are diverse enterprise after the establishment of British rule over the island ecosystems.
    [Show full text]
  • Evolution of the Indigenous Village Irrigation Systems of Sri Lanka
    Evolution of the Indigenous Village Irrigation Systems of Sri Lanka Traditional Beliefs Based on came down from the original Vidya Jyothi Chronicles settlers - "it is a product of the Dr. C.R. Panabokke mind and not a re-creation of what commonly-held belief among actually took place." As Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian some historians and subsequently commented by Research and Training Institute . scholars in the past, was Perera (1960) 'the Mahavamsa A (HARTI) that the art of irrigated agriculture version is inlaid with myth and was brought to this country by the romance, but it is yet possible to early Aryan settlers who had extract from it a kernel of truth'. had developed on what we now migrated to Sri Lanka from various Two kernels of truth which could parts of continental India prior to be identified are : recognised as various types of the arrival of Vijaya around 500 B.C. young alluvial plains; while the This belief had been largely based (a) Kuveni spinning cotton; and irrigation systems in ancient Sri on various fragmentary references Lanka had, of necessity, to develop (b) the pool or rudimentary pond in the Pali Vamsa chronicles, chiefly on the old hard rock peneplain of beside which Kuveni was seated the Dipavamsa and Mahauamsa. the low country dry zone. whilst spinning; and I shall build Furthermore, the irrigation upon these two 'kernels' in the As commented by Geiger (1912), systems of the flat alluvial plains latter part of this text. the Dipawansa represents the very of Mesopotamia were 'run-of-the- first unaided attempt made at Doubts Raised by Discerning river type' where there was no need creating an epic from traditional Blinds for storage reservoirs, whereas for source materials available.
    [Show full text]
  • Change in Other Field Crop Cultivation in the North Western Province
    Change in Other Field Crop Cultivation in the North Western Province Wasanthi Wickramasinghe Research Report No: 160 October 2013 Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute 114, Wijerama Mawatha Colombo 7 Sri Lanka I First Published: October 2013 © 2013, Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute Coverpage Designed by: Udeni Karunaratne Final typesetting and lay-out by: Dilanthi Hewavitharana ISBN: 978-955-612-154-4 II FOREWORD 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 recent past had not been promising. Therefore it is necessary to explore issues that are impedimented for the expansion of the OFC sector in Sri Lanka in order to provide some policy direction to the policy makers. A request was also made by the ministry of agriculture to investigate the factors responsible for the backward growth of this sector particularly in the North Western Province (NWP). Considering the necessity, HARTI undertook a study on the changes in other field crop sector in the NW province in 2011. 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 recent past due to a number of factors. According to the study permanent homesteads cultivating mono-crops without fallowing (Goda hena), irrigated rice fields cultivating OFCs and supplementary irrigated uplands cultivating OFCs are the currently existing farming systems in the province.
    [Show full text]
  • In the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka
    A PROPOSAL FOR DECLARATION AS A GIAHS THE CASCADED TANK-VILLAGE SYSTEM (CTVS) IN THE DRY ZONE OF SRI LANKA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS, SRI LANKA MARCH 2017 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACRONYMS ............................................................................................................................. 5 SUMMARY INFORMATION .................................................................................................. 6 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE PROPOSED GIAHS ............................................ 9 1.1 The Dry Zone ............................................................................................................ 10 1.2 Ancient Hydraulic Civilization of Sri Lanka ............................................................ 11 1.3 Traditional Agriculture in the Dry Zone ................................................................... 15 1.4 Irrigation Systems ..................................................................................................... 16 1.5 Traditional System of Water Management ............................................................... 18 1.6 Geographical Distribution of Village Tanks ............................................................. 20 1.7 The Cascaded Tank-Village System (CTVS) ........................................................... 22 1.8 Key Components of the System ................................................................................ 24 1.9 Production System....................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • An Investigation of Anthropology's Contribution to Rural Development in S.E
    Durham E-Theses Sowing New Ideas: An investigation of anthropology's contribution to rural development in S.E. Sri Lanka Marzano, Mariella How to cite: Marzano, Mariella (2002) Sowing New Ideas: An investigation of anthropology's contribution to rural development in S.E. Sri Lanka, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/4184/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 Sowing New ideas: An Investigation of Anthropology's Contribution to Rural Development in S.E. Sri Lanka fVSariella Marzano Department of Anthropology University of Durham The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. Submitted in fulfilment for the requirements of the degree of PhD ^ 1 2002 Mariella Marzano Abstract Sowing New Ideas: An Investigation of Anthropology's Contribution to Rural Development in S.E.
    [Show full text]
  • Status of Organic Agriculture in Sri Lanka with Special Emphasis on Tea Production Systems
    Status of organic agriculture in Sri Lanka with special emphasis on tea production systems (Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze) Dissertation zur Erlangung des Grades „Doktor der Agrarwissenschaften“ am Fachbereich Pflanzenbau der Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen PhD Thesis Faculty of Plant Production, Justus-Liebig-University of Giessen vorgelegt von / submitted by Ute Williges OCTOBER 2004 Acknowledgement The author gratefully acknowledges the financial assistance received from the German Academic Exchange Service (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, DAAD) for the field work in Sri Lanka over a peroid of two years and the „Hochschul- und Wissenschaftsprogramm (HWP)“ for supporting the compilation of the thesis afterwards in Germany. My sincere thanks goes to my teacher Prof. Dr. J. Sauerborn whose continuous supervision and companionship accompanied me throughout this work and period of live. Further I want to thank Prof. Dr. Wegener and Prof. Dr. Leithold for their support regarding parts of the thesis and Dr. Hollenhorst for his advice carrying out the statistical analysis. My appreciation goes to Dr. Nanadasena and Dr. Mohotti for their generous provision of laboratory facilities in Sri Lanka. My special thanks goes to Mr. Ekanayeke whose thoughts have given me a good insight view in tea cultivation. I want to mention that parts of the study were carried out in co-operation with the Non Governmental Organisation Gami Seva Sevana, Galaha, Bio Foods (Pvt) Ltd., Bowalawatta, the Tea Research Institute (TRI) of Sri Lanka, Talawakele; The Tea Small Holders Development Authority (TSHDA), Regional Extension Centre, Sooriyagoda; The Post Graduate Institute of Agriculture (PGIA), Department of Soil Science, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya and The Natural Resources Management Services (NRMS), Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka, Polgolla.
    [Show full text]
  • Small Tank Cascade Systems in the Walawe River Basin Small Tank
    WORKING PAPER 92 Small Tank Cascade Systems in the Walawe River Basin P. G. Somaratne, Priyantha Jayakody, François Molle and K. Jinapala Postal Address: P O Box 2075 Colombo Sri Lanka Location: 127, Sunil Mawatha Pelawatta Battaramulla Sri Lanka Telephone: +94-11 2787404 Fax: +94-11 2786854 E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://www.iwmi.org SM International International Water Management IWMI isaFuture Harvest Center Water Management Institute supportedby the CGIAR ISBN: 92-9090-592-1 Institute Working Paper 92 Small Tank Cascade Systems in the Walawe River Basin P. G. Somaratne Priyantha Jayakody François Molle and K. Jinapala International Water Management Institute IWMI receives its principal funding from 58 governments, private foundations and international and regional organizations known as the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). Support is also given by the Governments of Ghana, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The authors: P. G. Someratne and Francois Molle are a Senior Research Officer and Principal Researcher, respectively, at the International Water Management Institute. K. Jinapala is a Researcher and Priyantha Jayakody, a Research Officer, also at IWMI. This research contributes to the Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture (www.iwmi.org\assessment). The research was supported by a grant from the Government of the Netherlands to the Comprehensive Assessment. Somaratne, P.G.; Jayakody, P.; Molle, F.; Jinapala, K. 2005. Small tank cascade systems in Walawe River Basin. Colombo, Sri Lanka: IWMI. 46p. (Working paper 92 ) / tanks / water availability / social aspects / economic aspects / poverty / income / land use / land tenure / intensive cropping / institutions / farmers / households / technology / fertilizers / river basins / Sri Lanka / ISBN 92-9090-592-1 Copyright 2005, by IWMI.
    [Show full text]
  • Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding Efforts in Sri Lanka
    Field Survey Report Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding Efforts in the Asia-Pacific 2011 International Information and Networking Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region under the auspices of UNESCO In collaboration with National Library and Documentation Services Board, Sri Lanka Preface The International Information and Networking Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region proposed by the Korean government was finally approved as a category 2 centre under the auspices of UNESCO at the 35th session of the UNESCO General Conference last October. Over the course of the next year, the Centre and the Korean government prepared for the establishment of the UNESCO category 2 centre which is intended to become a hub for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage in Asia and the Pacific region. As a well intentioned objective for the future activities of this centre, ICHCAP initiated the 2009 Field Survey Project of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding Efforts in the Asia-Pacific Region. In 2011 ICHCAP worked in collaboration with institutions from seven countries which include: Cook Islands, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Marshall Islands, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Tonga to carry out the field surveys. The purpose of the field survey project was to obtain a grasp on the current situation of ICH safeguarding, along with specific details on each country’s efforts in inventory making and relevant policies, laws, organisations, etc. The centre will continue this project over the next several years to cover all of the countries within the Asia-Pacific region. The centre will serve Asia-Pacific Member States as an information and networking centre for the safeguarding of ICH.
    [Show full text]