Download Intensive peasant farming - Case Study: India

Intensive peasant farming - Case Study: India
Practiced in areas of high population density in South East Asia such
as India, Thailand and Malaysia, the typical farm size is 2.5 acres
and the main crop is rice.
Little or no capital is available as this is a subsistence type of
farming i.e. food is produced for personal consumption.
Inputs
Land
Most farmers are tenants who must pay a proportion of their crops
to a landlord. This is called share-cropping.
As rice is grown in flooded fields called padis, wide, flat floodplains
such as that of the River Ganges is ideal. However, much steeper
land is terraced to provide additional growing space.
Climate
Minimum of 10 degrees Celsius is required for seeds to grow. Over
20 degrees is required for the rice to ripen. In some areas two or
three crops a year are possible. High rainfall over 2000mm per year
is essential for natural irrigation.
Technology
Little technology is used as many have no access to it or cannot
afford it. Water buffalo are often used to pull ploughs.
Transport is not necessary either as the farmers produce only for
their own consumption.
Fertiliser
Various methods are used to fertilise the soil. Animal and human
manure is occasionally added, but it is not significant. Rice stubble
is ploughed back into the fields to release nutrients, and the water
added to the fields brings fertile silt, as do any river floods. Nitrogen
fixing algae can also enrich the water and soil. Nutrients are also
released from the underlying parent material.
Labour
A very high population density is required, as this type of farming is
very labour intensive. All work is done by hand.
Socio-cultural
Small farms sizes are a result of inheritance practices which
result in land being split between siblings, reducing the area
available for each family.
Case Study: India
Hindus bathing in the River Ganges
Settlement patterns and function
Settlements are either dispersed or nucleated, with many
different subdivisions. People are often segregated by the caste
system, with each part of the village performing a separate
function.
Some planned villages have grown up around irrigation schemes, on
roads or canals, which are rectangular in shape and more
organised.
In some isolated areas the settlement pattern resembles that of
shifting cultivation. In most of south east Asia it is a typically
village landscape, with mostly nucleated settlements. These tend
to be grouped around a temple, school, market and some shops.
This allows the farmers to borrow equipment that they may have
bought as a cooperative.
Problems
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The small farm sizes do not allow any surplus to be produced
for sale.
The small farm sizes restrict the use of machinery.
Scattered plots of land make farming inefficient.
Animals are overworked and their manure is more often used
for fuel than fertiliser.
These areas typically suffer from overpopulation, a lack of
investment, and drought or flooding.
The poor infrastructure hinders the marketing of surplus crops
and development, and credit is also difficult to obtain.
Solutions
The Green Revolution
This is the term used to describe the application of modern, western
farming techniques to developing countries. It evolved from
scientific research designed to increase yield/output. Examples of
high yielding variety (HYV) seeds are IR8, an improved strain of
rice, and Mexipak, a dwarf variety of wheat. Occasionally farmers
will grow banana or coconut crops on the land surrounding the
padis to provide an alternate source of income.
The Indian government have introduced five- and seven-year plans
to improve agriculture. Land reform policies have been introduced
in an attempt to share the land more evenly. Over 160million
people live on farms smaller than 1 hectare, the minimum size
required to support an Indian family. Almost as many own no land
at all. Land reform concentrated on redistributing land to landless
peasant with varying success.
Kerala in the south of the country is the most successful as no one
is allowed to own more than 10 hectares. Unfortunately even if all
land was redistributed each family would still have only 2 hectares
of land.
The government have invested in the communication network,
schools and electricity, all in an effort to raise living standards.
Farming programmes are also shown on TV, for those lucky enough
to have one, and farmers are encouraged to form cooperatives
which pool money and resources for the benefit of all.
The Green Revolution has been most successful in areas where land
reform has taken place.
Shifting cultivation - Case study: the Amazon Basin
Practiced in the Tropical Rainforests of the world, such as
Amazonia, central Africa and south east Asia, where population
density is low. It is a small-scale, primitive but sustainable
(environmentally friendly) form of agriculture in which a small plot
of land is used but a large area is required. A typical family unit of
20 people uses around 120 hectares.
The main crops are maize, manoic, yucca, yams and cassava.
Yields are low and protein is added to the diet through hunting,
gathering and fishing.
The group clear the trees using simple tools then burn the stumps
that remain to add ash to the soil. This fertilises the soil. This
technique is called slash-and-burn.
After two or three years the soil loses its fertility and crop yields
fall, forcing the people to move to another plot. The vegetation
normally recovers in about 30 years. This lifestyle supports around
300million people worldwide. The Yanomami or Boro tribe are
typical shifting cultivators.
Inputs
Little or no capital is available as this is a subsistence type of
farming - food is produced for personal consumption. Government
grants are available but they have little impact as few of the
farmers even know who is in power.
Land
This varies depending on the size of the tribe. The overall area used
is approximately 1,000 hectares (ha) per person.
Climate
High temperatures and high rainfall allow for a 12 month growing
season, so there are always ripe crops available.
Socio-cultural
The tradition of sharing the land is important in preserving this way
of life.
Technology
Little technology is used as many have no access to it or cannot
afford it. Primitive digging sticks and axes are often used and the
main form of transport is canoe.
Fertiliser
Ash is the only natural fertiliser used as the people do not keep
animals that could be a source of manure.
Labour
The crops are tended mainly by women and children as the men
supplement the basic diet through hunting, gathering and fishing.
Soils
Most nutrients in the Rainforests are held in the vegetation so the
soils (latosols) are very poor, suffering heavy leaching from the high
rainfall, and rapid loss of fertility.
Case Study: the Amazon Basin
A child in the Peruvian part of the Amazon Basin.
Settlement patterns and function
Traditionally settlements are dispersed, although some clustering
can occur where the people will hunt or farm together. Typical
settlements consist of leaf-thatched wooden longhouses called
Malocas, which are built in a ring pattern allowing protection from
animals or to guard against thieves trying to steal their crops. They
tend to live in families or tribal groups with 3 to 6 families living
under one roof.
In some parts of the Amazon the indigenous populations have been
forced into reservations or remote areas due to competing land uses
such as hydro-electic power (HEP) schemes, mining, cattle
ranching, or road building (such as the TransAmazon
Highway). This threatens the traditional way of life and the
environment.
Problems
Land made fallow by being cleared
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Slash and burn leads to soil instability and loss of fertility
which results in smaller yields. These yields rapidly decline
from year one.
The farmers do not own their land so it can be taken from
them at any time, often by land developers.
European immigrants have brought increasing population
pressure and pressure on the land.
They have also brought diseases that the indigenous people
have no immunity to and thousands have died, often from the
common cold.
Contact with outside cultures has also led to more crime and
alcoholism, particularly when they are forced onto
reservations.
Land is being cleared for cattle ranches, roads, mines and HEP
schemes leaving less land for the Indians to farm on. This
leaves the land fallow for a shorter time as they must return
to same area much quicker. The reduced food supply
threatens the whole way of life.
Shifting cultivators often find the forced change to sedentary
(stationary) agriculture too difficult, as it is an instant, and
not progressive, change.
Solutions
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Agroforestry can be practiced, which is the planting of trees
and crops which maintains the natural nutrient cycle. The
fallow land can be artificially enriched e.g. by planting
leguminous acacia trees. It has been found that such trees
restore the nutrients to the soil more quickly than allowing
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the area to regenerate naturally, so it might take two years
instead of seven for example
Crop rotation can be practiced in permanent settlements,
known as ‘bush fallowing’
Cash crops can be grown with government encouragement
e.g. coffee and cocoa
Cuttings from the trees can be mulched and added to soil to
protect it and add nutrients
Food can be gathered from existing trees e.g. fruit and nuts
Extensive Commercial Farming - Case study: Great Plains of
North America
Extensive commercial farming is found throughout the world in the
Pampas of Argentina, the Russian Steppes, Australia and south east
England. The most characteristic of this farming type though are the
Great Plains of North America (Canada and USA).
Inputs
Commercial farming depends on good transport and marketing
organisation to distribute the produce. This type of agriculture
involves the use of a small labour force, a high degree of
mechanisation and a large farm - so it is capital intensive.
Scientific and technological advances are used e.g chemicals. Water
is regulated so that maximum yields are obtained without damaging
the soil or lowering its fertility. Most of the produce, if not all, is sold
for cash.
Land
Extensive areas of flat or gently undulating land is required. The soil
must be deep and fertile, but can and is enhanced using fertilisers.
The typical soil type is
Grain silo
a Chernozem which is black and humus rich, and good at
conserving moisture and binding soil in the dry climate.
The crops are often grown in monoculture, meaning only one crop,
and there is no need for fences to mark field boundaries.
Grain silos or elevators are a common feature of the landscape,
where the grain is stored before transport.
Climate
Moderate temperatures and rainfall is required as the crops cannot
withstand extremes of either. Long, sunny summer days help to
ripen crops whilst winter snow helps to insulate the ground,
allowing early planting. Intense winter frosts kill off pests and plant
diseases, and break the soil into fine crumbs, making it easier to
work.
In the USA warm winds from the Rocky Mountains (Chinook)
rapidly melts the snow. There tends to be a six month growing
season that varies depending on latitude.
Cattle-ranching is not so dependent on climatic conditions, which is
why this occurs in the drier parts of these regions.
Technology
Technology in the form of machinery is used extensively. There is
high investment, it is high tech and modern e.g. combine
harvesters. Irrigation systems are also employed to cope with
the frequent drought conditions in some regions.
Like the Green Revolution, seeds have been designed to be
resistant to disease and drought, and to be faster growing (some
fewer than 90 days).
Sophisticated transport networks are also required to ship produce
to markets, and can be built cheaply and easily on the vast
expanses of flat land.
Fertiliser
High levels of artificial fertiliser and pesticides are used e.g.
nitrogen based fertilisers, and are often sprayed by aircraft.
Labour
Labour is a low priority input as machinery does the majority of
work. Often labour is employed on seasonal contracts during
harvesting, and this leads to outmigration and rural
depopulation.
Government
Many government grants and subsidies are provided to support
farmers in difficult times and to guarantee a price for produce. This
disadvantages foreign producers.
Case Study: the Great Plains of North America
Settlement patterns and function
Settlement has evolved into a recognisable pattern, regularly
spaced in a hierarchical system. There are very few large
settlements, which provide services for the more numerous smaller
settlements. This spacing is created by a combination of field
patterns, road and railway networks, and the service function of the
settlements.
The geometric pattern to the landscape has a historical origin in the
division of land during the great influx of European immigrants
(mainly Germans, Russians and Scandinavians) that took place in
the late 19th century. Surveyors divided the land into districts and
then gave each settler 64 hectares of land to cultivate.
Farming was intensive rather than extensive at this point, and only
changed in the early 20th century following persistent drought.
Farmers export grain produce through the railway network so towns
are distributed along this in a linear fashion. The flat landscape
allows equal access in all directions along the road system.
Regular spacing of the service centres ensures that each maximises
their share of available consumers in the area.
Problems
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Output is modest despite the size of the farms.
Increased mechanisation has led to higher costs for the
farmer and a reduction in the workforce required. This causes
unemployment and rural depopulation as younger people
move to cities in search of work.
Farming is now industrialised agribusiness, meaning many
smaller farms cannot compete so either fold completely or are
taken over by larger farms. Again this leads to outmigration.
Many environmental issues are raised due to high usage of
chemicals in fertilisers and pesticides, run-off from which can
get into water supplies.
Reclamation of land (e.g. draining wetlands), removal of
vegetation cover and hedgerows have changed the local
ecology, whilst burning of straw stumps (stubble burning)
causes air pollution.
The extensive use of irrigation also leads high rates of
evapotranspiration. This brings salts to the surface causing
salinisation of the topsoil. It is also very expensive and often
the rate at which water is removed from the soil exceeds
precipitation.
Climatic problems include occasional drought, severe
hailstones or tornadoes, all of which can cause extensive
damage.
The most famous problem to afflict this region was the Dust
Bowl of the 1930s when overcultivation and poor farm
practices were followed by drought and severe soil erosion.
Some of the dust was carried as far as Washington DC,
2000km to the east. This in turn led to food shortages for the
whole of North America and significant rural depopulation.
Those who stayed suffered extreme poverty for many years.
Solutions
The Dust Bowl was such a major event that the US Government set
up The Soil Conservation Service in 1936 to promote better farming
techniques. For example:
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Stubble mulching involves leaving the remains of the crops
to protect the soil during the fallow period, preventing wind
erosion and evaporation.
Strip cultivation means a fallow field is protected from the
prevailing wind by a cropped field.
Contour ploughing (ploughing with the contour rather than
across it) has reduced erosion on hillsides.
Crop rotation rather than monoculture was introduced to
allow soil to recover during fallow periods. This does however
leave it susceptible to erosion.
Irrigation was introduced only on a small scale and on valley
floors. This is obtained from a vast underground aquifer,
called the Ogallala Aquifer.
Herbicides to kill weeds helped as they reduce the number of
times soil needs tilled. This process kills weeds but increases
erosion.
Farmers are paid to take land out of production to reduce
surplus and keep down the price of crops.
Switching from cropping to grazing was necessary as the area
is too dry for continuous cultivation.