INTENSIVE PEASANT FARMING IN INDIA

Location: Humid tropics of south and east Asia

Climate: Monsoon where there is a wet and dry season. Rains can fail to come on occasions. Temperatures are warm throughout the year.

Soils: tend to be acidic with poor drainage. Soils are deliberately compacted to allow water to lie on the surface. There is little leaching within the soil due to the puddling. Soils are naturally quite fertile due to the high nitrogen content available from the algae in the water which fixes N from the air and from bacteria found in the root area of the rice crop.. Where high yields are required and there is continuous cropping, additional N must be added – fertilisers, animal manure, ploughing in of rice stubble.

Methods: rice seed is grown in nurseries and after a few weeks are transplanted into paddy fields. Paddy fields are generally small, level and have compacted soil. They are surrounded by earth walls called bunds. The soil and bunds allow water to lie on the surface which is essential for rice growth. During the growing season the water levels are closely monitored and water is added by irrigation if necessary or available. Once the rice matures the paddy fields are drained of water and the field allowed to dry out before harvesting.

Crops: two rice crops can be grown. Kharif crops are grown during the monsoon and rabi crops are grown during the dry season.

Technology: generally fairly basic. Farmers will have a plough which can be pulled by ox or man. There may be a very basic irrigation system. Most of the work is done by hand therefore a large workforce is required.

Capital: most rice farmers in India produce little, if any surplus crops. If there is a surplus then it can be sold at a local market to produce a small amount of money. Some Indian farmers are tenants and will have to pay rents. This may be in cash or as an amount of rice.

Pests: paddy fields provide an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes. Fish in the paddy field can reduce the number.

BENEFITS OF RICE CULTIVATION

· Yields support a high population density – 2000 people/km

· 100 day growing season means that there is the potential to grow 2-3 crops/year

· 2000 hours of labour/year is required to farm a 1 hectare plot of land therefore population densities in rural areas in India can be quite high.

· The fish in the paddy fields not only reduces the mosquito population, it can also provide protein to reduce malnutrition.

PROBLEMS

· There is little surplus due to farm size – farmers can almost be subsistence in some years.

· Land is fragmented due to India’s inheritance laws.

· Many farmers are tenants and can be exploited by the landowner.

· Animals are often overworked and underfed. Manure can be used as a source of fuel instead of manure.

· Where mechanisation is occurring in larger farms, employment is being reduced which can lead to rural-urban migration.

The Green Revolution

The dramatic expansion in rice production throughout Monsoon Asia and other tropical areas of the Developing World became known as THE GREEN REVOLUTION.

What was involved?

· The development and use of improved short stem, high yielding cereals – maize, rice, wheat.

· Increased and improved mechanisation

· Irrigation and drainage

· The increased use of agrochemicals.

The result was the food production more than kept up with population increase. By 1990, 80% of the world’s population had at least 2500 calories per day compared with just 50% in 1960.

The scientific breeding of new strains of rice at the International Rice Research Institute continues to be introduced to the sawahs of Kedah as they have become available.

Kedah was ideal for innovation since it

· Was a most favourable agroclimate region in terms of relief, soil, growing season, hours of sunshine, rainfall and provision of irrigation water.

· Had an educated and progressive farming population willing to change traditional practices.

· Had an infrastructure already in place to handle distribution of seed, fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides as well as an equitable distribution of irrigation water.

The Green Revolution did have its limitations

· In some parts of the Developing World, there is still not an adequate supply of food. In some cases the extra food was sold as a cash crop so local diets did not always improve.

· Natural resource degradation and environmental problems have remained or increased, and there are signs of diminishing returns.

· The poorest peoples have not benefited from the changes and an increasing number of landless labourers have migrated to cities. In many areas it is the wealthiest farmers who have benefited.

· Peasant farmers cannot always afford to buy fertilisers and pesticides which are required to produce high yields of HYV of cereal wheat.

· Pesticides used in developing countries can be highly toxic e.g.DDT.