The Larger Context of Rice Terraces Glenn Davis

The Larger Context of Rice Terraces Glenn Davis Stone Washington Univ. , St. Louis The Ifugao Rice Terraces: Antiquity, Management, and Conservancy June 18, 2015 National Museum, Manila

Trincheras (ancient terraces, SW U. S. and Northern Mexico)

Kofyar terraces Intensive agriculture Plateau State, Nigeria

Low ponded terraces Andhra Pradesh, India

Rice Terraces Theory of agricultural change Rice is exceptional Terraces are exceptional

Boserup, Ester (1965) The conditions of agricultural growth: The economics of agrarian change under population pressure. Theory of agricultural intensification • "dynamic model for all primitive agriculture" • Boserup -- input of mostly local resources • industrialization -- use of off-farm resources, mostly produced industrially Extensive Intensive 6

Ecology of Intensification Extensive • Extensive (shifting, slash & burn, swidden) capitalizes on fire & fallow • Fire clears canopy, fertilizes, kills pests • Fallow re-fertilizes, removes pest habitat, creates fodder • Broadcast or dibble seeds, little fertilizing, weeding • Used when possible because efficient (low input: output) • Population pressure reduces fallow area • Fertilizing • Tillage • Weeding • Bring more labor-intensive land into cultivation • Overall effects: • Longer work hours • Output per area/time rises • Efficiency drops; decreasing marginal returns Intensive (“locational intensification” Stone 1996) 7

POPULATION Boserupian Intensification Tree fallow very high efficiency AGRICULTURAL INTENSITY

POPULATION Boserupian Intensification Bush fallow high efficiency Tree fallow very high efficiency AGRICULTURAL INTENSITY

POPULATION Boserupian Intensification Grass fallow medium efficiency Bush fallow high efficiency Tree fallow very high efficiency AGRICULTURAL INTENSITY

Boserupian Intensification Annual cultivation POPULATION low efficiency Grass fallow medium efficiency Bush fallow high efficiency Tree fallow very high efficiency AGRICULTURAL INTENSITY

Boserupian Intensification Multi-cropping very low efficiency Annual cultivation POPULATION low efficiency Grass fallow medium efficiency Bush fallow high efficiency Tree fallow very high efficiency AGRICULTURAL INTENSITY

Boserupian Intensification Multi-cropping very low efficiency Annual cultivation POPULATION low efficiency Grass fallow R E T medium efficiency Bush fallow high efficiency Tree fallow very high efficiency AGRICULTURAL INTENSITY C A R IN G

• Boserup’s theory ties agricultural intensity to population pressure, as opposed to "grand, inclusive schema like those of cultural evolution" • (Stone & Downum 1998, “Non-Boserupian Ecology”; Netting Smallholders 1993: 261) • It can reverse: when population density drops, intensity drops (e. g. , Kofyar) • Driving force in agricultural practices is efficiency (returns to labor) • Simplified but invaluable model of agricultural change

Extensive (“upland”) rice Intensive (“wet”) rice

Is wet rice RICE Boserupian? In some ways: high input high output often under high population density as she predicts But relatively efficient! "Where a transition from broadcast sowing to transplanting, or from single- to double-cropping is made, the increases in yield will certainly outstrip concomitant rises in labour inputs. “ Francesca Bray 1986: 5, The Rice Economies

“Soup bowl ecology” • Nitrogen fixing bacteria • Water extremely effective weed control • Years of continuous cultivation develops good waterproof hardpan covered in mud (podzolisation) • May hold fertility indefinitely (at least at a certain level of multicropping) • Ponds conducive to other economic species 17

Input/Output (efficiency) comparisons Philippines China Louisiana extensive wet industrial -------------------------labor hrs/ha animal hrs/ha energy kcal/ha yield kg/ha efficiency (kcal output: input) 576 272 1. 8 mil 6 mil 1700 3. 3 (Source: Wen & Pimental 1986) 3045 332 7. 6 mil 29 mil 8000 3. 2 25 0 11. 5 mil 15 mil 4100 1. 3

Terraces Are not just another form of intensification

Cerro de Trincheras as civic archtecture

Moray (Inca) site, Peru

Extensification normally easy • Kofyar switched to slash & burn But especially on steep hills, terracing may have a “ratchet” effect • Incentives to maintain whole system

(selfie heaven)

Rice Terraces Rice is agro-ecologically unique • Contrary to theories of agricultural change, this intensive form of cultivation if relatively efficient Terraces are a unique form of intensification • Can exert ratchet effect • Form of architecture • Landscape feature with value beyond agriculture

Thank You Research in India - Philippines supported by • National Science Foundation • Wenner-Gren Foundation • Templeton Foundation Collaborators & associates • IDS (D. Glover) • UCLA field school (S. Acabado) • SITMo (M. Martin) • IRRI (N. Vera Cruz)