The irrigation system is deeply anchored in heritage as visualized in the village structure, which always consists of three major town planning elements, known as the “cultural trinity”: the village wewa, paddy fields (wela)and the Buddhist temple (dagaba)(Panabokke et al. 2002). Several agricultural traditions and rites are connected to paddy rice cultivation.

Almost all interviewees indicated that living in line with religious norms and values is important or very important. Almost half of the interviewees alluded to a spiritual connection to the irrigation system and the cultivation and three-quarters mentioned that they worshiped lord Pillayar or celebrated ceremonies where they boil coconut milk as a traditional rite in the belief that this would bring prosperity and a rich harvest. This depicts the strong trust in religious tradition. Such practices and rites are often conducted in combination with technical approaches such as the use of artificial fertilizer or pesticides and climate-adapted crop varieties to enhance the god’s favour.

Observing the environmental surroundings such as weather, soil, animal behaviour, etc. is another inherent part of farming. It helps in judging what to cultivate during the upcoming season and when to start planting. Several anecdotes about the relationship between the environment and cultivation were told during the interviews, for example, how to roughly determine the amount of precipitation during the next season by observing how many eggs are laid by crows.