FRANCISCO, Ma.

Francesca DL
2ASN2
SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS :
CHAPTER 17 : AGRICULTURAL POLICY
SUMMARY

Struggle for long-term economic development in South Asia will

be won or lost in Agriculture
LABOR OF FARMERS
o Is not utilized effectively nor utilized to the extent that it
could be
Its importance is heightened by the equally simple
fact that the agricultural population of South Asia
grows daily.
RURAL POPULATION
o Is so large that its increase will not decline greatly during
the next twenty or thirty years as the result of any
movement from the rural urban areas to the city slums is
not a desirable means of reducing the underutilization of
the agricultural labor force
ELEMENTS THAT SEEM TO BRIGHTEN THE OUTLOOK FOR THE
PRODUCTIVE ABSORPTION OF MORE LABOR IN AGRICULTURE
o The fact that yields in South Asian agriculture are so
extremely low that it should be relatively easy to increase
production levels
o Greater increases in yields could be attained by applying
modern scientific agricultural technology
o South Asian work practices in agriculture are now not
labor intensive but instead are labor extensive. The
labor input is low and inefficient.
COMPATIBLE OBJECTIVES :
o A fuller utilization of the labor force
o A higher level of agricultural
are two
aspects of the same
production
thing
The crucial importance of increasing agricultural production has
now been duly appreciated throughout South Asia
o EXCEPTION :
The countries of the region have not fared well in
their efforts to raise farm output
Few institutional economists kept hammering at the importance
of what has been called the, HUMAN-FACTOR-FIRST APPROACH

o Their thinking is upheld by people with field experience

o They know that technical advice will bring results only up
to a certain point
DURING THE COLONIAL ERA
o Government
were reluctant to interfere with the life and customs
of indigenous populations
collected taxes for the land owning
recruited labor for European employers
o Traditional Agrarian Structure
Precluded by considerations of expediency ad
expense
By the general colonial policy (LAISSEZ FAIRE)
o Bias in favor in the use of technical solutions was
strengthened by the pots-war approach to planning
o Increase in South Asian agricultural production due to the
expansion of the cultivate area
OTHER FORCES THAT OBSTRUCTED THE FULL UTILIZATION OF
TILLABLE LAND
o The landowners have large interest in high rents and low
wages which displays little enthusiasm for an expansion of
the cultivated area
o Cultivation of untilled lands at a greater distance from the
villages involves resettlement rigid controls on squatters
o Quality of the untilled land is still unknown
FARM ANIMALS
o UNCONTROLLED PASTURING is one of the factors
responsible for the low quality and efficiency of South
Asias domesticated animal population
o Demands of animals on space are most serious
o Experts have been pointing out that traditional methods of
feeding cattle on pasture are totally unsuitable in areas
with a high population density
o Are the main sources of meat
o Rationalization from farm animals to tractors would initially
be expensive
WATER SUPPLY
o Not only reduces the frightening dependence on the
monsoon
o Could also permit the growing of more than one crop a
year
o IRRIGATION a form of insurance against monsoon failure
o IRRIGATED CROPS regularly require large amounts of
fertilizer

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE FARMERS :

o South Asian agriculture is labor extensive
o Frequent waste of manpower which results to low level of
productivity
o New methods of farming will reduce the number of farm
jobs
o Advanced technology does not decrease the opportunity to
improve labor utilization
SINCE INEPENDENCE
o South Asian governments have attempted some degree of
land reform
o Radical reforms
o High policy priority to industrialization
o Growing non-agricultural population
o Agrarian structure heavily weighted with tenancy and
burdened with debt
o Reign of the intermediary as a semi-feudal chief has ended
ANALYSIS

Most laborers do say that the use of technology causes unemployment

and underemployment. But after reading this chapter I realized that it
does not decrease the clamor for labor but instead it increases it. For,
the technology to be used is also in need for labor for the technology
needs people to operate and fix the technology in case of any
malfunction.