Features

Reimagining Dutugemunu : A Problem of interpretation

Published

3 years ago

2022/12/16

By Uditha Devapriya

The interpretation of historical chronicles presents an intriguing challenge for the modern scholar and writer. The main problem, as it stands, lies in terminology. Words present no challenge to the translator, but to the historian and the archaeologist, it is not enough to translate; it is more important to contextualise. That is why contemporary interpretations of historical narratives often go on a tangent: they try to essentialise and in doing so end up imputing contemporary meanings to archaic and pre-modern ideas.

In Sri Lanka the two main such narratives would be the Dipavamsa and the Mahavamsa, the latter more than the former. Here the issue of interpretation is somewhat compounded by the fact that these two works are among the oldest and most credible of their kind in South Asia, indeed probably the most important such documents for any historian of the region or of surrounding regions like South-East Asia. The Mahavamsa alone is a useful compendium of the social and economic relations that prevailed before the advent of Buddhism in the 3rd century BC and the advent of Vijaya in the 6th. Among other things, it presents an early example of the colonisation myth, in the form of the Vijaya-Kuveni legend.

The myth itself is presented as a sequel to two other historical events, Gautama Buddha’s three visits to Sri Lanka, and the convening of the Three Buddhist Councils after his passing away or parinibbana. There is then a break of sorts in the narrative after these incidents when the story, as such, shifts to the Sinhabahu myth, which in my opinion, to put it rather crudely, is no more and no less than an Indianised – or Asianised if you will – version of the Oedipal myth. Origin and colonisation myths are strewn with three elements: guilt, incest, and parricide. Vijaya’s birth, visit to Lanka, and his subsequent actions in the island involve all three. Guilt, in fact, lies at the heart of the Kohomba Kankariya, which is a ritual centred on the quest for absolution for what Vijaya does to Kuveni.

Here we need to be mindful of an important point. The authors of the Dipavamsa and the Mahavamsa may have worked from an oral tradition, but that tradition is so replete with common motifs, themes, and problematics – the main problematic being, in my view, the question of how to legitimise, or authenticate, the purist claims of the monarchs of Lanka when these monarchs traced their origins to a neighbouring country – that it is difficult not to be swayed and dazzled by them. Even the historian and archaeologist feel tempted, from time to time, to overlook the mythical aspects of these stories.

It is against this backdrop that we must examine the main historical problem of the Pali Chronicles, namely the problem of what meanings to ascribe to the stories and concepts employed by their authors. We need to be aware that meanings of words change from time to time, era to era, and that, as I mentioned in my earlier article on Alan Keenan’s point about Sinhala (and non-Sinhala) names, ascribing contemporary meanings to archaic terms is a crime of which the most ardent nationalist is as guilty as the most fervent liberal. This is why both groups, opponents though they are, tend to get it wrong, very wrong, over the more controversial stories in these narratives, and the question of interpreting them. Chief among them, in my view, would be Dutugemunu’s defeat of Elara.

There are two reasons why Dutugemunu’s conquest has become the most misinterpreted historical episode – I hesitate to use the word myth because, as Gananath Obeyesekere has reminded us, Dutugemunu was an actual historical personage – in Sri Lanka. Firstly, it is to Dutugemunu that nationalist ideologues, those propounding an exclusivist interpretation of Buddhism and those considering Sri Lanka as Buddhism’s last haven – turn, to validate if not legitimise their claims. In their reading, Dutugemunu is a saviour-king, a great unifier whose actions can only be emulated, but never quite equalled: hence the tendency to adulate later unifier-monarchs, like Parakramabahu I, along Dutugemunist lines. As Newton Gunasinghe and Nalin de Silva – occupying different ideological grounds – has reminded us regarding this, the Dutugemunu story contradicts the universalism of Buddhism by grounding it in Sri Lanka and specifically among Sinhala speaking communities.

The Newton-Nalin congruence is interesting. It leads me to my second point, which is that the failure of interpretation, or misinterpretation, in the Dutugemunu story, or specifically the Dutugemunu-Elara encounter, is not merely the nationalist ideologue’s, but also his or her liberal opponent’s. For both groups, the Dutugemunist reading of history contrasts with another variant of Buddhism. Nalin de Silva, for instance, contrast Dutugemunist Buddhism (DB) with Olcott Buddhism (OB), which is then contrasted with the missionary zeal of the foremost Buddhist propagandist of 20th century Sri Lanka, Anagarika Dharmapala. In other words, historical stories and chronicles are used to justify the superiority of an exclusionary variant of Buddhism over a more universalist and all-encompassing one.

The liberal rejoinder to the nationalist reconstruction of the Dutugemunu story is, simply, that Dutugemunu’s actions, particularly his defeat of Elara, his momentary remorse over the deaths of his opponents, and his recovery from remorse through the intervention of a group of Buddhist monks, suggest an absence of empathy associated with Buddhist monarchs, of whom the supreme figurehead would have to be Asoka Maurya. Here, it is interesting to note and acknowledge that, like their nationalist opponents, liberal commentators resort to a common set of assumptions when commenting on such stories: prime among them, that the wars depicted in these stories were between two racial groups and not, as the likes of R. A. L. H. Gunawardana and H. L. Seneviratne have argued, two dynastic ones.

The episode involving Dutugemunu’s confessions of guilt to a Buddhist monk, and the Buddhist monk’s blanket absolution of the hero-king, is a case in point. What we see here is not so much a contradiction but an inversion of a similar episode from Asoka’s life, after the Kalinga War. The contradiction is so patently visible that it’s hard not to judge the episode without summoning a contrast with its Indian equivalent, or dis-equivalent. Nationalists may argue, as many of them indeed do, that Dutugemunu’s recovery from remorse indicates the sacrosanct nature of Buddhism as is practised in Sri Lanka: no matter what, even if it takes the murder of thousands or millions, the king’s foremost duty is to preserve the faith of the land. In fact, the author of the Mahavamsa, putting words into Dutugemunu’s mouth, argue that this takes precedence over “the sovereignty of the State.”

Liberal scholars, conversely, would contend that this episode provides a justification of ethnic cleansing, genocide, the murder of one’s own subjects in the interests of a faith or the State, and so on. This, like the nationalist argument, is not entirely without its merits. But it depends on how you look at the words and terms, or assumptions, underlying such stories. The question to ask here is, are we looking at history through an historical lens, depriving entire episodes and stories of their specificity in the interests of certain political and cultural biases – nationalist or liberal, exclusivist or cosmopolitan? I would say so. But the issue isn’t about agreeing or disagreeing with this notion of history; it is about coming up with a solution that address the concerns of both ideological groups.

The solution I propose is hardly a radical or innovative one, but it is the best one there is. While agreeing with Gananath Obeyesekere’s polemic against interpreting these stories in a too literal light – an approach which, as he rightly notes, paves the road to fundamentalism of the sort that has bedevilled this country for the last 75 years – I would note that we need to ground them in the way in which they were related, imagined, or witnessed at the time of their recounting. Another feasible solution would be to prioritise inscriptional evidence over literary texts: even though there are convergences between the two (the historical actuality of Dutugemunu’s personage), there are also significant divergences (the arrival of Vijaya). In other words, we need to be aware of the mythical connotations of historical narratives and compare, and contrast, them with actual archaeological evidence.

I am aware, however, of a problem – one noted for me by a renowned political analyst and commentator. The issue with interpreting stories like Dutugemunu’s defeat of Elara and his recovery from remorse with the aid of a Buddhist monk, at one level, linguistic: we need to be careful when using terms whose meanings change dramatically from era to era. At the same time, as linguists themselves will tell you, some words have meanings that transcend specificity, context, space and time, geography, history. What, then, do we make of a monk who, after hearing Dutugemunu’s confession, assures him that “from this deed arises no hindrance in thy way to heaven”? Certain episodes can be grounded in a specific period and excused on the basis of their specificity. Certain others, like the extermination of six million Jews, cannot. The problem for me is, where does Dutugemunu belong?

The writer is an international relations analyst, researcher, and columnist who can be reached at udakdev1@gmail.com.

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Features

Discovery of molecular structure of primary genetic material of life

Published

9 hours ago

2026/04/24

Thilina Walpola

World DNA Day falls on 25 April:

On 25 April 1953, Watson and Crick published an article, in the acclaimed journal “Nature” titled “Molecular structure of nucleic acids: A structure for deoxyribonucleic acid”.

The one-page article largely based on theoretical arguments and the previous work of Rosalind Franklin who examined DNA using X-rays, changed the world forever by explaining how genetic information is copied and transmitted.

Everyone concerned with promoting science in the country should be aware of the story behind the discovery of DNA and tell it to their children and students and remind the policymakers.

The world commemorates the transformative event on 25^th April every year. An example vividly illustrates how intense curiosity and imagination, rather than mere indulgence in technologies, leads to groundbreaking discoveries.

DNA Day is also intended to celebrate the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003. Genome means the entire set of genetic information characterising an organism.

Heredity and inheritance

Heredity is the cause of transferring traits from parents to their offspring. The closely related word “inheritance “refers to the specific nature of the transmitted trait. For example, we say intelligence is hereditary in their family and he inherited his father’s intelligence.

The resemblance of progeny to parentage was common knowledge, taken for granted and considered a blending of maternal and paternal traits. Philosophers of antiquity proposed several theories to explain the inheritance of parental traits by the offspring. Hippocrates believed the essence of all body parts of the parents are incorporated into the male and female germinal essence and therefore the offspring display characteristics as a proportionate blend. Aristotle offered a different explanation. He argued that the active principle is in the male seminal fluid and the mother’s blood provided the original body material. The inaccuracy of these theories was apparent. Sometimes children possess qualities akin to grandparents rather than parents. Fathers or mothers of humans and animals, deformed by accidents or disease, gave birth to normal children- a clear proof that the acquired characters are not inherited. Children of a blue-eyed mother and a brown-eyed father have either blue or brown eyes but not a blend of blue and brown.

Two golden sayings in our culture, “Arae gathi nare” and “Jammeta wada lokuei purrudha” (“Hereditary characters persist” and “Habits overtake heredity “), agree more with modern genetics, than the views of Hippocrates and Aristotle.

Gregor Mendal’s groundbreaking experiment

The Austrian mathematician cum botanist, Gregor Mendel was the first to conduct a systematic investigation to understand the cause of heredity. Being unconvinced of the traditional explanations, he carried out a series of experiments lasting eight years to determine how the traits (plant height, seed color, flower color etc.) of pea plants are transmitted from generation to generation. When Mendel cross pollinated tall and short plants, he found that the progeny was entirely tall. However, when first generation tall plants were allowed to self-pollinate, the missing short trait reappeared at a statistically significant probability of 25 percent. Mendel’s work provided an unequivocal proof that traits do not blend but exist as unique entities, manifested from generation to generation following a predictable mathematical pattern.

Mendel’s finding remained unrecognized for more than 30 years. His ideas were too far ahead of time and biologists were shy of mathematics. In the early 1900s several European botanists arrived at the same conclusion based on independent experiments. With the advancement of microscopy, a great deal of information about plant and animal cells was gathered. A key finding was the presence of colored bodies in the cell nucleus named chromosomes, seen separating during cell division, leading to the hypothesis that Mendel’s genetic units (genes) should be physical entities present in the chromosomes.

Chemists and biologists wondered what the genetic material in chromosomes made off. Is it a protein, carbohydrate or a lipid? Most biological materials are constituted of these substances.

Discovery of DNA

Great discoveries are made by unusual people. The Swiss Friedrich Miescher belonged to a clan of reputed physicians. Following family tradition, he qualified as a doctor but did not engage in profitable practice of medicine. He decided to do research to understand the foundations of life. In search for new biological substances, he experimented with pus deposited in bandages and extracted a substance rich in phosphates but very different from proteins. The new substance called “nuclein” was indeed DNA. Later, the German biochemist Albrecht Kossel following the Miescher’s work, showed that DNA contains four crucial compounds, adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G) and thymine (T), known as nucleotide bases.

Avery – MacLeod – McCarthy Experiment

The flu pandemic of 1918 killed an estimated 50 million people worldwide due to the pneumonia that followed the viral infection. Pneumonia was caused by the virulent bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae. The British bacteriologist, Frederick Griffith attempting to find a vaccine for pneumonia, worked with two strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae, one virulent causing pneumonia in mice, and the other avirulent to them. He found that neither the virulent strain denatured by heating nor the live avirulent strain injected into mice caused the disease, whereas a mixture of the denatured virulent strain and the live avirulent strain was deadly to mice just as the virulent one. He concluded that some chemical compound present in the virulent strain – a transforming principle – has changed the avirulent strain to the virulent strain.

In 1944, Oswald Avery, Colin MacLeod and Maclyn McCarty working at the Rockefeller University, United States, continued the work of Frederick Griffith to identify the transferring principle and found that it is not protein as widely believed, but deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Their result pointed to the conclusion that DNA is the carrier of genetic information.

A book by a physicist that triggered a transformation in biology

The insights of brilliant brains engaged in fundamental inquiry have opened the way for major scientific discoveries and technological innovations. In 1944, the Austrian theoretical physicist Erwin Schrodinger, one of the founders of quantum mechanics, published a book titled “What is life? The physical aspect of the living cell “. The American biologist Maurice Wilkins said he was so inspired by Schrodinger’s book and after reading it, he decided to switch from ornithology to genetics. While physicist Maurice was influenced to take up biology. Francis Crick was a physicist working on magnetic mines for the British Admiralty during the war. After reading “What is life” he thought a physicist could find treasures in biology and joined the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge to pursue a Ph.D.

Structure of the DNA molecule

When DNA was shown to be the molecular entity that encodes genetic information, chemists rushed to determine its structure.

The pattern formed when X-rays passing through a material cast an image on a screen, provides information about its molecular structure. In 1938, the English physicist William Astbury examined DNA using x-rays and concluded that the molecule has a helical structure. Having heard a group in the United Kingdom was attempting to unearth the structure of DNA, the American theoretical chemist, Linus Pauling, adopted Astbury’s data and proposed a model for the structure of DNA, publishing the results in the journal “Nature” in January 1953.

There was an obscure but remarkably talented person, Rosalind Franklin, pursuing x-ray diffraction studies on DNA at King’s College London. After a painstaking effort, she obtained accurate x-ray diffraction images of DNA. Her colleague, Maurice Wilkins, working in the same laboratory, passed the images to Francis Crick and James Watson at Cavendish Laboratory.

Crick and Watson were more insightful and theoretical in their approach to elucidating the structure of DNA. They, inspired by Erwin Schrodinger’s hypothesis, that the entity accounting for heredity should be an aperiodic molecular entity in cells, arrived at the double helix model, showing that Linus Pauling’s model was erroneous. The Crick – Watson model explained how DNA stores information and replicates during cell division. Their assertions were subsequently confirmed rigorously by experimentation. Crick, Watson and Wilkins received the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine in 1962.

The work following the Crick – Watson model, firmly established that the DNA is a polymer string constituted of two strands made of a sugar- phosphate backbone, connected to each other by linkage nucleotide bases A, T, G, C. The base A links base T and G to C. When one strand is defined by the arrangement of bases, the complementary strand is defined. The arrangement bases store information analogously to a four-letter alphabet. Each individual in a species has a unique sequence of arrangement base pairs. The variation within the species is generally a fraction of a percent.

The Watson-Crick model also explained how the DNA molecule replicates. The two strands unwind and separate, and two complementary strands are inserted. The detailed dynamics of the replication process are not fully understood.

‘DNA is a cookbook’

DNA functions like a multiple – volume cookbook, written in a four-letter alphabet. The volumes are kept in a rack in the kitchen. The rack is the nucleus and volumes on it are the chromosomes, and the cell is the kitchen. A paragraph giving a recipe is a gene. Enzymes act as chefs, who read recipes and give instructions to cell machinery to prepare the dishes, which are proteins. The system is so complex; a complete macroscopic analogy would be impossible.

The significance of the Crick- Watson work

Until Charles Darwin proposed the idea of evolution, biology lacked a theoretical foundation. Darwin hypothesized, when organisms reproduce, the progeny inherit parental characters, but there are variations. The variants, though similar to the parents, have some new or altered characters. If these characters, originating from mutations or cross – breeding are favorable for survival in the environment, they dominate in the population, inheriting advantageous traits. Thus, random generation – to – generation, advancements of living organisms, become possible – a way of improving the design of things in a production process without a designer. Living systems store information and progeny retrieve them, when required. A bird hatched from an egg when matured, knows how to fly.

The discovery of DNA and understanding how it stores genetic information, replicates and mutates explained Darwinian evolution. A mutation is a change in the ordering of base pairs, accidentally during replication or due to external chemical or physical causes. In sexual reproduction, the offspring gets nearly half of its DNA from each parent. Consequently, the offspring does not have DNA identical to one parent. It mixes up DNA in the species. However, mutations generate new genes, driving evolution. Sexual reproduction and mutation acting in concert introduced the diversity of life on earth we see today.

Once science becomes explanatory and predictive, it opens the way for innovations. Theories of mechanics and electromagnetism formulated in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries brought forth modern engineering, transforming it from an empirical craft to a scientific technological discipline. Before the discovery of DNA structure and its function, biological innovations were largely empirical. Today we have genetic engineering – genes in organisms can be manipulated. The goal of more advanced genetic engineering, referred to as synthetic biology, aims to induce major genetic changes to organisms by incorporating several genes to alter biochemical, physiological and anatomical functions. Gene technology is rapidly transforming medicine, agriculture and biotechnology. Cures have been found for diseases formerly branded incurable.

How did DNA come into existence

Life is believed to have originated in prebiotic oceans enriched with carbon and nitrogenous substances. How did DNA originate there? Today, chemists can synthesize DNA in minutes, via selective procedures, only humans can do with their knowledge. Even in a vast ocean containing trillions of times more molecular ingredients than in a test tube, a molecule as complex as DNA is most unlikely to be created by random events during the largest possible time scales of the universe. A plausible scenario would be DNA evolving from simpler self-replicating molecules such as RNA (a single strand of DNA) precursors. Unlike RNA, DNA is highly stable and good stability is necessary for the evolution of advanced forms of life.

Epigenetics

Earlier we pointed out there are two golden sayings in our culture: “Arae gathi nare” and “Jammeta wada lokuei purudha (“Hereditary characters persist” and “Habits overtake heredity “). The first is a consequence of our genetic predisposition determined by DNA and explicit genes. However, the character of an individual is also influenced by the physical, social and cultural environment. Although completely non-genetic, our children frequently follow habits we indulge in. Again, the behavior of an individual is also influenced by the physical, social and cultural environment.

The environmental factors also trigger or silence genes. The study of this important genetic effect, which does not alter the sequence of base pairs, is referred to as epigenetics. Epigenetic effects could be deleterious or beneficial. Sometimes, chronic stress causes disease, including cancer. Research suggests engagement in creative and imaginative activities, and establishes favorable epigenetic changes in the brain. Inheritance is dictated mainly by the arrangement of base pairs in DNA. Epigenetic changes involve chemical changes in DNA without altering the sequence. These alterations are erasable but allow transmission to subsequent generations.

Conclusion: World DNA day message to lawmakers

The discovery of the structure of DNA stands as one of the most significant scientific discoveries in human history. It is a lesson to all those involved in research and education, telling how great discoveries originated. It is intense curiosity, imagination and preparation rather than mere indulgence in technologies that clear the path for discovery and innovation. A society that advocates policies conducive to discoveries, also develops new technologies that follow. If we just borrow technologies from places where they originated, hoping for quick economic returns, the effort would be a gross failure. Students, determined to be the best judging from exam performance, engage in professional disciplines and perform exceptionally. Why are we short of discoveries and innovations in those disciplines? Will our lawmakers ever realize the issue? They need to wonder why we are weak in science and poor in innovation. Right policies can even reverse adverse epigenetic attributes propagating in a society!

By Prof. Kirthi Tennakone
ktenna@yahoo.co.uk
National Institute of Fundamental Studies

Features

Death of the Sperm Whale

Published

9 hours ago

2026/04/24

Thilina Walpola

REVIEWED BY Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha

Earlier this year, I sent her most recent book by an old friend, Kamala Wijeratne. Death of the Sperm Whale is her first book of poetry in four years, though in between she has published fiction, two books though both of them too were slim volumes. I am full of admiration for her in that she keeps going, the last of the poets whom I helped to a wider readership in the eighties, when I championed Sri Lankan writing in English, something hardly any academic was prepared to do in those conservative days.

Kamala Wijeratne

Kamala’s subjects are those she has explored in the past, but the use of the plural indicates that her range is expansive. She dwells much on nature, but she deals also with political issues, and engages in social criticism. There are several poems about Gaza, the multiple horrors occurring there having clearly affected her deeply. She repeatedly draws attention to the slaughter of children, the infants sent by God only to be taken back. And she deals with the destruction of the life of a doctor, after his healing, a theme that has kept recurring in the ghastly world which is subject to the whims of the incredibly nasty Netanyahu.

The title poem is about a whale destroyed by ingesting plastic, a tragedy to which we all contribute, though those who ‘loll on the beach, their senses dulled by the burgers they eat’ could not care less. More immediate is the simple account of a friend whose infant had died in hospital, when they diagnosed pneumonia too late.

Contrasting with these urgent statements are Kamala’s gentle perceptions, as when she writes of her son supporting her as she walks, while she thinks back to the days she supported him; of a marigold growing in a crack in a shrine, offering obeisance with its golden flowers to the Noble One; of birds investigating her dining room and deciding not to build there, the male lingering ‘confused and irritated’ but eventually following the female through the window for ‘She was mistress after all.’

She is deeply interested in the passing of time, and its impact on our perceptions. The first poem in the book is called ‘First Poem of 2024’ when she ‘heard the weeping of the dying year’, and went on to meditate on how we have categorised the passing of time, while the universe moves on regardless.

She welcomes the return of the Avichchiya, the Indian Pitta, a bird that has figured previously in her poetry, after six months, but this time she spares a thought for his case against the peacock, which stole his plumes.

There are two personal poems, one about a former student who turned her back on her when she had achieved success, the other about being nominated for a literary award, but not getting it after the excitement of attending the Awards Ceremony. Swallowing her disappointment, she congratulates the winner, noting that she will not go into ecstasies the next time she is nominated.

Paraphrase cannot do justice to Kamala Wijeratne’s gentle touch, which has expanded its reach over the years. So,A I will end by quoting from her tribute to Punyakante Wijenaike, another of the distinguished ladies whose work I promoted, the one before the last to leave us. The tribute ends, recalling her most impressive work Giraya,

Like the nutcracker
That makes a clean cut
You cut the human psyche
To reveal its darkest depths

by Kamala Wijeratne

Features

Fertile soil basis of sound farming

Published

9 hours ago

2026/04/24

Thilina Walpola

On the occasion of World Earth Day, the conversation around sustainability often turns to forests, oceans, and climate. Yet, one of the most critical resources sustaining life remains largely unnoticed – soil. Beneath every thriving crop and every secure food system lies a complex, living ecosystem that quietly performs functions essential not just for agriculture, but for the health of the planet itself.

Soil is far more than a passive medium for plant growth. It is a dynamic and living system, teeming with microorganisms that drive nutrient cycling, regulate water movement, and support biodiversity at multiple levels. It acts as a natural reservoir, storing carbon and playing a crucial role in mitigating the impacts of climate change. The productivity, resilience, and long-term viability of agriculture are intrinsically tied to the health of this foundational resource.

However, decades of intensive agricultural practices have begun to take a visible toll. The increasing pressure to maximize yields has often led to excessive and imbalanced use of fertilisers, particularly nitrogen-heavy inputs. While these may provide short-term gains, their prolonged and unchecked use has resulted in significant nutrient imbalances within the soil. Essential micronutrients are depleted, soil organic carbon levels decline, and the rich microbial life that sustains soil fertility begins to diminish. The result is a gradual but steady erosion of soil health – one that ultimately reflects in reduced productivity and increased vulnerability of crops to stress.

Parallel to the challenge of soil degradation is the growing concern of water scarcity. Agriculture remains the largest consumer of freshwater resources, and inefficient irrigation practices continue to strain already depleting groundwater reserves. In an era marked by climate variability, erratic rainfall patterns, and increasing frequency of droughts, the need for efficient water management has never been more urgent.

Adopting scientifically sound and resource-efficient practices offers a clear pathway forward. Techniques such as rainwater harvesting and precision irrigation systems – like drip and sprinkler methods – enable farmers to optimize water use without compromising crop health. Complementary practices such as mulching and proper field levelling further enhance moisture retention and reduce water loss, ensuring that every drop contributes effectively to plant growth.

Equally important is the shift towards a more balanced and holistic approach to nutrient management. Soil testing must form the backbone of fertiliser application strategies, ensuring that crops receive nutrients in the right proportion and at the right time. Integrating organic sources – such as farmyard manure, compost, and green manure – helps replenish soil organic matter, improving both soil structure and its capacity to retain water and nutrients.

Sustainable soil management also extends to cultivation practices. Reduced or minimum tillage helps preserve soil structure, while crop rotation and intercropping promote biodiversity and break pest and disease cycles. The inclusion of cover crops protects the soil surface from erosion and contributes to organic matter buildup, reinforcing the soil’s natural resilience.

In recent years, there has also been growing recognition of the role played by biological and enzymatic inputs in enhancing soil health. These inputs stimulate beneficial microbial activity, improve nutrient availability, and increase nutrient use efficiency. By reducing dependence on excessive chemical fertilisers, they offer a pathway toward more sustainable and environmentally responsible farming systems. The transition to sustainable agriculture is not merely a technical shift – it is a collective responsibility.

Farmers, scientists, industry stakeholders, and policymakers must work in tandem to promote awareness and facilitate the adoption of practices that conserve soil and water resources. The long-term sustainability of agriculture depends on decisions made today, at both the field and policy level. As we mark World Earth Day, the message is clear: the future of agriculture is inseparable from the health of our soil and the stewardship of our water resources. A fertile, living soil is not just the foundation of productive farming – it is the cornerstone of ecological balance and food security. Protecting it is not an option; it is an obligation we owe to generations to come. (The Statesman)

(The writer is Chairman Emeritus, Dhanuka Agritech.)