Photographysrilanka

 

formerly Ceylon

Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) has been an agricultural country since time immemorial. The chief occupation of the then Sri Lankas, was agriculture, and land use in ancient Sri Lanka had been mainly agricultural. People grew their own food and there was hardly any foreign agriculture food trade. The earliest agricultural settlements were in the river valleys in the northern and south-eastern plains and the main crop cultivation was paddy under rain-fed conditions. A main feature of the civilization in ancient Sri Lanka was the development of an irrigation technology. Thousands of small irrigation tanks of varying sizes and shapes, particularly in the Dry Zone provided water for paddy cultivation. Paddy was cultivated only in one season and during the dry season the lands were left fallow. Uplands were cultivated under rainfed conditions with subsidiary food crops under a shifting cultivation system. Until the 19th century subsistence agriculture continued to be the mainstay of the country.

The system of subsistence agriculture continued until the advent of foreigners. Coffee (Coffea arabica) was introduced in 1722 by the Dutch, (during the Dutch Ceylon) and the British (during the British Ceylon), who arrived in the country in 1796, promoted the cultivation of this crop. With the rapid increase in the consumption of coffee in England, the demand for coffee increased considerably and the coffee cultivation also expanded. The fall of coffee resulted in the development of other planation crops. Coffee lands in the central highlands were replaced by tea (Camellia sinensis)and was promoted from 1860s onwards. While tea replaced coffee in the upcountry areas, rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) was planted in the low country. Rubber was introduced in 1876 but its cultivation began in the 1890s and gradually expanded. Coconut (Cocos nucifera) was initially cultivated in home gardens. The local planters concentrated more on coconut and by 1900 coconut covered around 40% of the cultivated area. Most of the coconuts were cultivated in the Southern and North Western province of the country. By the end of the 19th century, with the opening of lands for planation crops, this sector became the dominant sector of the