Operational status of land use under early colonization schemes

Abstract

Sri Lanka's interest in land settlement as a development strategy started during the early decades of the 20th century. Among the objectives of establishing such settlements were; 1 Achieving self sufficiency in food production ii Relieving population pressures in the congested wet zone areas. III Preserving land institution. iv Achieving a balanced development from a regional development point of view. owning peasantry as a social Nearly 50 years later there are now socio economic, physical and environmental problems arising from population pressures and the absence of the incorporation of a sustainable manner of development in the original settlement programmes. The above can be deduced from several writings on land settlement in Sri Lanka with reference to the widespread under utilization of scarce land resources (Farmer, 1957; Arbel, 1964; Land utilization committee, 1967; stegman 1970; Galoya project evaluation committee report, 1970).