boserup-1965.html

<!-- see Wikipedia for general theory -->

<!-- I found out about this while studying the different forms of geography -->

contrast to Malthus who postulated that food production would only increase linearly and would limit population growth

Boserup claims that population growth allows the transition of agriculture to more intensive forms that use new methods and technologies and produce more food

but the production requires more time per hectare or per food output

requires that the population spend more time in agriculture

long-fallow cycles are the most efficient at providing food

as populations increase they run the risk of not leaving the plot time to reforest

this can lead to shrub short-fallow cycles

grazing on the fallow land can include the use of herbivores on the land

savannah spread and the retreat of the forest may have been due to overgrazing by populations oer a long period of time

<!-- see Marsh, transformation of the entire Iberian Penninsula -->

Chap 4 - the carrying capacity of the land

growing fodder for draught animals, instead of just letting them graze is a big step in the intensification of agriculture

similarly, switching to irrigation is a big commitment of time, energy and materials that transforms the society that is using irrigation

<!-- There are different implications of the two theories, Malthus and Boserup. It is important to consider more than one hypothesis to understand this historically, developmentally (demo trans) and in terms of the implications for sustainability -->

description of the long-fallow

burn

plant

relatively little weeding

no ploughing (because of the terrain, small plots and tree roots)

pg 48 - some areas where grasses have taken over

large effort (time) hoeing the grass/weeds

families may work from dawn to dusk just weeding during the rainy season

<!-- demonstrates how crop plants have to be nurtured and artificially selected compared to weeds or native ***** -->

irrigation increases work per hectare by 50%

pg 65 - dimishing returns and technical inertia

colonial period

introduction of new techniques

to boost cash or commodity crops

but many new techniques not adopted or were failed to be introduced

hard to explain by just one approach (sociological, economic)

pg 85 - transition from long-fallow to grazing

comes into play at critical population density

what are the cultivator's rights to use fallow land for grazing

<!-- the tragedy of the commons kicks in at this time -->

pg 88 - rapid population growth requires a high rate of investment

<!-- systems model for economic growth vs. population growth -->

this investment can actually be accomplished by agriculture labor, clearing and preparing the land for cultivation

pg 116 implications for development

shortening the fallow period is related to population growth

<!-- at the start of the mortality transition, when population is just starting to increase -->

rise in labor cost

time to tend function with more intensive farming

means that these were a social response to increased population

pg 120 - claims that

industrialized methods don't cause big increases in output

and we shouldn't expect modern methods to tbe adopted quickly

may have to simply use more labor as population grows <!-- my interpretation of the last chapter -->