An agrarian community: A case study in Kalawila village in the Kalutara district

1. EX 2201: Principles of Human Behavior
Group 11 - Seedlings
An Agrarian Community : A Case Study in Kalawila Village in the Kalutara
District

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

3. Farming has dramatically transformed
the way humans lived

4. This eventually led to the development of agrarian
civilizations

5. ……… which accelerated collective learning and innovation

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

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

8. ……. Culture, Religion and Economy

9. 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

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

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

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

13. 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

14. Do we still have the features of good old
days in our agrarian societies ?

15. Case study area: Kalawila in
Kalutara District
Objective: Studying the behavior
of people who are mainly involved
in agriculture

16. Vegetable farming is one of the main livelihoods
in this village

17. The soils in these area are
very conducive for vegetable
farming

18. • 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

19. • 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.

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

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

22. • 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.

23. • 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

24. • Mr. Sunil and Mrs. Manohari is a couple who are
engaged in commercial level farming
• They own a house with basic facilities

25. • …. and has tea in their home garden

26. They also plant trellis crops …….

27. Brinjal ………….

28. Chilies ……

29. Manioc ……

30. and leafy vegetables ……

31. • 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

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

33. 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

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

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

36. Tourist attractions in the
village itself ….

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

38. ……. and also to the city of Colombo

39. Kalawila is a village that has plantation
crops such as tea and rubber.
Tea is grown mainly in home gardens at
small scale

40. Both rubber smallholdings and
estates are found in this village

41. Rubber harvesting is a way of
livelihood for some people

42. • 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

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

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

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

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

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

48. • 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

49. • 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.

50. We appreciate the farmers of
Kalawila Village for their
unreserved support