- 著者
- Haruhisa ASADA Jun MATSUMOTO Rezaur RAHMAN
- 出版者
- The Association of Japanese Geographers
- 雑誌
- 地理学評論 (ISSN:13479555)
- 巻号頁・発行日
- vol.78, no.12, pp.783-793, 2005-10-01 (Released:2008-12-25)
- 参考文献数
- 27
- 被引用文献数
- 7 14
The long-term variations of rice production in Bangladesh are examined in the latter half of the 20th century and the impact of recent severe floods is discussed. Unprecedented severe floods, which submerged nearly two thirds of the country, occurred recently in Bangladesh in 1988 and 1998, and the effects of these severe floods to rice cropping are revealed. In these severe flood years, the rainy season crop aman drastically declined in production due to the decrease of the cultivated area and yield. On the other hand, the dry season crop boro, which is planted after the flood withdrawal, increased its production much higher than that of the previous year, mainly because of utilization of the residual flood water. In terms of total annual rice production, it turns out that severe floods have even a positive effect on rice production in Bangladesh. Furthermore, rice production after these severe flood years is higher than that of the previous years, suggesting that severe floods may act as a trigger for increasing rice production level through the change of the hydrological environment and farmers' reaction to it.
- 著者
- Yasuyuki Kosaka Bhaskar Saikia C. K. Rai Komo Hage Haruhisa Asada Tag Hui Tomo Riba Kazuo Ando
- 出版者
- JAPAN SOCIETY OF TROPICAL ECOLOGY
- 雑誌
- Tropics (ISSN:0917415X)
- 巻号頁・発行日
- vol.24, no.2, pp.75-90, 2015 (Released:2015-09-01)
- 参考文献数
- 34
- 被引用文献数
- 1
The transformation of land from swidden based to permanent agriculture is an important issue related to the sustainable livelihood and land use system of people in mountain environments. This paper reports the introduction of paddy rice cultivation and its consequences in four swiddener communities in Arunachal Pradesh, India, by focusing on cultivation techniques. The Indian government introduced paddy rice cultivation to Arunachal Pradesh in the 1950s by teaching the required techniques and supplying seed and agricultural tools. However, few swiddeners began rice cultivation because they disliked working in muddy paddies that could not produce non-rice crops. During the “green revolution” in the 1970s, many people decided to create paddy fields after observing the remarkably high yield of new rice varieties. Over 60 years of trial and error, many swiddener communities have developed a unique cultivation system suited to their local environment, while often learning from their neighboring communities of Ahom and Apatani that already practiced paddy rice cultivation. The paddy field has become a symbol of wealth and social status because of the high and stable yield of paddy rice and escalating land prices. However, the communities usually continue some aspects of swidden cultivation, because only a limited amount of land is suitable for paddy rice, people need non-rice crops, or because older people prefer swidden cultivation work and the taste of upland rice. This case study shows the importance of local needs and knowledge of skilled farmers in swidden transformation.