Blog Archives

Was Sri Lanka an Agricultural Nation in Ancient Times?-by Michael Roberts Source:Thuppahis Source:Thuppahis Vinod Moonesinghe, in an original essay bearing the title  “Agricultural nation, a myth?” ……… … now reproduced with a different title and with highlIghting imposed by The Editor, ThuppaHI “The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.” — L.P. Hartley, The go-between Recent shortages of milk powder, wheat flour and even rice have brought into perspective Sri Lanka’s lack of food security. The situation has been exacerbated by growing dependence on imports of wheat – which rose from half a million tonnes in 1980 to nearly 1.5 million tonnes in 2020. This lack of food security has re-kindled an argument about the role of agriculture in Sri Lanka’s economy, which has extended into the realms of historiography. ...