Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
a hypothesis on the impact of rural population on productivity, poverty and
natural resource management. Pender's argument seems to be relevant for
this research which also has shown the implications of demographic pres-
sure on the farm-based agrarian households in rural Bangladesh. There
is however, another research conducted by D.G. Satihal, L.D. Vaikunthe
and P.K. Bhargava (n. d.) which documents those rapid demographic and
agricultural changes in various parts of Karanataka District for the last
few decades. The paper has however, shown that there is a large variation
in the general land utilization pattern and availability of cultivated land
in different parts of the district. Bivariate analysis of data however, sug-
gests that agricultural growth in all cropped areas of the district largely lag
behind population growth, except in a few areas where there are higher
growths of food crops.
We know that land and its terrestrial environment is essentially an im-
portant natural resource which provides 99% of humans' food require-
ment (Pimentel & Pimentel, 1996). Thus logically, it is quite likely that
when this land is under serious threat due to population growth, farmers
need to use the same land repeatedly through intensive multi-cropping
production. When farmers go for intensive cultivation, they have to uti-
lize mechanized farming and make an abrupt shift from their traditional
indigenous farming system. The introduction of mechanized farming pro-
vides a sharp increase of crop production which is essential to support a
growing population. Traditional subsistence farming in Asia and Africa in
the past involved the rotating cultivation or mono-cropping, keeping the
land fallow for some time, which as a matter of fact allowed the land to
be revitalized and regain its nutrients. But with the increase of population,
people put continuous pressure on land, without allowing them any time
off. The resulting consequence is the deterioration of the soil which keeps
the land fully dependent on chemical fertilizer and uncontrolled irriga-
tion. Therefore, peasants moving towards mechanized farming no longer
depend on seasonal rain and also at the same time, are totally dislodged
from indigenous farming mechanisms. Due to mechanized farming, crop
production increases, yet a complimentary notion develops when people
usually care less about reducing the population.
