Modernize Tilling and Tillers – By Oscar E V Fernando
Since Sri Lanka-then Ceylon earned the epithet-Granary of the East and up to now, a metamorphosis had taken place in the world, changing both tilling and tiller in a significant manner-but this revolution had not affected much the lifestyle of our tiller nor the machinery used for tilling; tiller wore the ‘amude’ or the loin-cloth and cattle were used to turn and churn the soil to plant seeds; it is only after the turn of a century that we find on our fields the be-spectacled boot legged farmers: there is much more to be done for the emancipation of both tilling and the tiller!
Why did tilling of paddy stagger behind other cultivations such as tea rubber and coconut? Perhaps the foreigners were averse to traditional rituals that accompanied paddy cultivation; other plantation communities like in tea rubber and coconut got accustomed to Mercantile Methods and Systems of the West more readily due perhaps to their affinity towards Western styles and customs.
It appears that paddy cultivation thus saddled along willy-nilly with neither the Raja Kariya system of old nor the mercantile system having a hand in the management; no wonder the periodical sigh of suicide from the farmer community-having no proper coordination in the network of tilling storing and marketing.
The progeny of these failed farmers that drifted to the urban in search of greener pasture-still carried with them the psyche of the rural and lived a Chummery styled life in the urban; they will certainly take to modernization of tilling like the proverbial duck taking to water-or in the alternative form the nucleus of a gathering aragalaya!
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The powers that be-now with youthful daring may consider adopting the following in the rural-
-Introduce modernized agricultural equipment-
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-Construct cold storage plants to face vagaries of weather-
-Cut of the middle man so as to maintain a fair price for the farmer-
-Introduce digitalization and open WIFI shops and banks for swift communication to connect with the world outside for trading and business opportunities:
Youth being youth will certainly need these social aspects to drift back to the rural-
-Halls for music song and dance-
-Gymnasiums-
-Swimming pools
-Easy access to educational institutions.
On the way to modernization issues such as Ande Cultivators and Nindagam/Temple lands that were not touched by past governments due to politics and elections will need urgent attention-these may be considered remnants of the past glory of the Granary of the East days during which agriculture was managed by the Raja Kariya system and in this system, we see a bit of totalitarianism (as even the name suggests) very much needed to shake off lethargy among the rural folk and hence be done as Small and Medium Enterprises SME’s on PPP basis and gradually make agriculture large scale enterprises-even considering FDI’s.
Oscar E V Fernando
November 2024
