Indigenous Knowledge in Agricultural Production: The Sri Lankan Experience

Indigenous people lived in Sri Lanka before the recorded history, 6th Century B.C and civilization had started with agriculture. Archeological evidences, show that the indigenous people had employed a range of practices which were, quite different from modern practices. Indigenous practices, knowledge and beliefs are replaced by modern technologies which are much profit oriented than maintaining the ecological balance. The simple lifestyle adopted by the indigenous people complied to the environmental factors and ensured the requirements of management of the biological resources too. Even though the indigenous knowledge system is not visualized as a separate knowledge system, some of the elements still survived. This study attempts to identify the indigenous knowledge elements and methods in the agricultural production systems and explains them scientifically. Moreover, it provides exposure to the potential of incorporating and expanding such knowledge elements to contemporary agricultural production systems.