Opinion

Arthur Dias and jackfruit tree deity

Published

3 years ago

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Reading the above captioned article in The Sunday Island of 20 February by Goolbai Gunasekera, I went down memory lane. During World War II, there was an acute shortage of food. All essential food items were rationed. A cultivation drive got underway, and every family was requested to grow food crops.

In rural villages, every villager planted jackfruit or breadfruit trees in his homestead. To be honest, I cannot remember whether Arthur Dias, who promoted jackfruit cultivation, came to our village to distribute jackfruit seeds. However, thanks to the colonial rulers the nation was fed. As for our family, there were eight of us and feeding us must have been a problem to our parents, but the jackfruit and breadfruit trees in our plot of land stood us in good stead.

I shudder to think what would happen if such a situation arose today.

G. A. D. Sirimal
Boralesgamuwa
ax

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