However, it is still widely practiced amongst rural farming communities in the country, particularly in semi arid dry areas where they engage in one or two rounds of crop growing each year. This type of cultivation is different from paddy cultivation that many see in the rest of the country; paddy farming has two cycles of cultivation while Chena farming usually has one cycle and once the harvesting season is over other crops that can be grown in the land for shorter periods are planted and harvested before the farming cycle commences in the following year.
These fields are favourite haunts for such animals as wild boars, monkeys and even straying elephants. For this reason the farmers who are engaged in this type of activity build a small house on top of a big tree and spend the night there singing out loud folk songs and keeping an eye out for wild animals in order to chase them away before they destroy the crop. Sometimes they light torches and set up scarecrows in the middle of the farm yard and also hang flags and such to scare away birds and beasts.
For any traveller interested in having a closer look at the lives of these farmers or want to climb on to a tree house, enjoy a typical meal consumed by these villagers comprising of rice and curries prepared using freshly picked vegetables from their garden and explore Chena farming, one of the best areas to go is Southern Sri Lanka. Many a safari hotel Sri Lanka can be found within easy reach of these Chena farms. A Yala hotel such as Chaaya Wild Yala will not only bring you close to Chena farming but also to leopards and elephants and many wild birds and beasts in this ecologically rich part of the country.
