The Effect of the Monsoon on the Indian Society in Cochin, Kerala
The monsoon holds the power to promote or devastate India ’s economy. Indeed, India has the potential to be a lot more prosperous were it not for the fickleness of the monsoon. “Floods, drought, famine, and poverty continue to drag her down each times she seems ready to spread wings of prosperity and fly towards a brighter future full of richer harvests.” 1
Sometime from the end of May to about the second week of June the southwest monsoon will arrive, if it arrives. Its time of arrival is not very predictable, nor is its duration or intensity, all of which can have significant impacts on an agriculturally based society. When the monsoon rain clouds reach the coast of south western India, they rise so quickly over the Western Ghats, an abrupt 1,500 mile escarpment, that they lose much of their moisture in Kerala (our area of study) before blowing across the rest of the peninsula and inland.2 Approximately 67% of the population depends on agriculture for a livelihood (forestry and fishing included).3 Major crops of Cochin and the surrounding area include coconuts, rubber, and rice. The monsoon rains are absolutely essential for crops to grow. The economy has been called a “gamble in rains” because the rain from the monsoon fills reservoirs, tanks, rivers, and irrigation canals with water that must last until the monsoon returns in the next year.4 Approximately 90% of India ’s annual water supply is brought by the monsoon.5 When the monsoon season is good, the government tries to establish buffer stocks against the catastrophe of monsoon failure. If the monsoon fails for two or three successive years however, no proactive measures can be sufficient.6 Another gamble the farmers make is with the timing of the monsoon. Crops are planted in March and April during the dry, hot season, and are harvested in November during the retreating northeast monsoon. Some crops such as coconuts need a certain amount of rain at a certain time. If the monsoon is late they will dry up and the harvest is lost.7
According to Cochin native, Joerose Tharakan, the irregularity of the arrival of the monsoon can have significant influences on the morale of the society. When the monsoon is late the farmers have a tendency to get vexed. Despite the fact that it obviously will do no good, they often go on strike.
When the crops were plentiful, the harvest would bring money and food and supplies for the next year's crop. Rain had an enormous impact on the farmers. Too much or too little could be devastating to their crops or the food supply of farm animals, and they affected the farmers who were dependent them....
This is necessary as the vast majority of individuals migrating from rural to urban centers has been steadily increasing with the level of economic growth seen within the past twenty years as mentioned earlier. Unfortunately, this situation has further shown the structural issues and inequalities of cities, as most migrants end up having a poor quality of life living in informal settlements as highlight substantially by Boo. As a means of tackling this, however, the Indian government has turned its focus on investing rural regions, developing the agricultural sector. Specifically, Boo mentions that “the prime minister, Manmohan Singh, had come down from Delhi to express his concern for the farmers’ hardships, and the central government’s determination to relieve it” (p. 138). While this is definitely important funds are not being divided justly. For starters, between rural and urban areas almost all investments are being targeting towards rural regions, which is only addressing issues of inequality in one section of the country. Furthermore, across rural areas inequalities of investment are quite often overlooked. Although, “one of the governments hopes was to stop villagers from abandoning their farms and further inundating cities like Mumbai, but Asha’s relatives knew nothing of these celebrated relief programs” (p. 138). Therefore, even though
In this essay, the effects of climate change on agriculture and how to manage it shall be discussed. Climate change has and will greatly affect agriculture. As time progresses, the effects of climate change will worsen and become detrimental. Mendelsohn and Dinar (2009:1) state,” if future climate scenarios lead to a widespread reduction in food supply, there could be massive problems with hunger and starvation”. Climate change is a change in global climate patterns which is mainly caused by the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by fossil fuels. The writer chose this topic because climate change is a global problem that will pose a threat to people’s lives around the world and must be dealt with sooner than later.
[6] Kripalani, Majeet & Egnardio, Pete. The Rise Of India. Business Week Online. December 8, 2003. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_49/b3861001_mz001.htm
Subramanian, Arvind. India’s Economy is stumbling? The New York Times. August 31, 2013: A19. Print.
In 1970, East Pakistan, about the size of Wisconsin, had a substantial population of 66 million, meaning that each square kilometer holds about 400 people (Disaster 174). It is located precisely where two large river systems, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra, unite to form the biggest delta in the world, the Ganges River Delta. A delta is a triangular deposit of sediment at the mouth of a river, naturally where it diverges. The two rivers conduct silt from as far as the Himalayas to the floodplains of Bangladesh, which are about 1,200 miles apart. Being one of the world’s most fertile croplands, the floodplain is densely populated. Farmers are forced to move farther and farther out into the delta, triggering them to face the perilous monsoon season, which is from June to October. One third of East Pakistan is no more than twenty feet above sea level, maximizing the death toll of life-threatening storms (History 3). The a...
The weather in this novel controls their crops and the river flow; which controls their food and water supply. They depend on adequate rainfall to help their crops to grow and for the river to be full. They also depend on the sun to warm things up and make the crops grow. However, if there is too much rain or too much sun it can cause many problems, such as a drought or a flood. These things are significant in this novel, because t...
...es will have to reduce water use in agriculture in order to satisfy residential and industrial water needs. In both China and India, the two countries that together dominate world irrigated agriculture, substantial cutbacks in irrigation water supplies lie ahead” (Brown pg.1).
Mother Nature can be unforgiving, but perhaps the most unforgiving act of Mother Nature is her ability to rid the land and weather forecast of the most precious resource of them all, water. When the stress of a drought is causing major problems the people of the area affected, the crops and livestock, and the water sources are all hit the hardest. This essay is going to explain to you the effects on those three things in the event of a severe drought.
When people think about droughts they think about the short term effects that are playing roles on the economy, however, many people don’t think of the long term affects that droughts can have on the economy. Droughts are dangerous, they don’t only affect one area or thing but can disable or damage an entire food chain, which in the end can cause serious problems for people all over the U.S. over an extended amount of time. The focal point of this paper will be about the drought of 2012 and how it affected the U.S. agriculture including crops, livestock, and even food prices later on down the road.
Millions of people have been displaced because of large dam projects throughout the country, most of populations being dalit or tribal. The disputes over the Sardar Sarovar Dam represents a larger issue in Indian society, distrust and doubt in the political system of the country. Questions from the displaced population and academics such as Arundhati Roy are being answered by the government in a dismissive manner, thus neglecting concerns from Indian citizens (Roy, 1999). Dam projects were viewed positively by Nehru, however, the reality of these projects is that the state benefits at the expense of lower castes and tribal
The tropics are effect by many weather conditions which makes the jobs of farmers difficult. Overall subsistence and the GNP are effected by changes in weather, which for the most part is not always predictable. In a world that is divided up into the haves and the have nots, government influence is crucial in regulating practices and the overall distribution of wealth Despite this fact, programs implemented did not always succeed in benefitting the Filipinos. One major attribute of the Philippines is the wide variety of crops produced in this region. Crops which many not be able to grow during the rainy season may grow during in the period of December - May when there is little rainfall (and vice versa).
Kerala relies on its powerful coconut industry, and with education causing its decline, its economy also sinks with it. The sudden integration of education “is threatening Kerala’s coconut industry” (Gable, 1). The opportunity of schooling and a better lifestyle is leading away prized pickers from the business, leaving behind a dramatic shortage of workers. Suddenly, there is no one left to pick enough of the fruits, leaving job spaces open, and nobody around to fill them up. This abrupt scarcity of laborers takes a serious toll on Kerala’s economy, which is entirely based on coconut production. The people of Kerala’s communities are centered around...
Firstly, the gradually worsening of the climate change effects causing our world lives such as drought and floods which posing many challenges to farmers and ranchers in the agricultural sector. In Thailand, the suffered from big flood in the past two years and the changed in temperature are likely to cause the habit of ranges of many species to shift and lead to a lessen yield of crops that will decline by 17 percent in 2050 (GLF Committee 201...
Global warming is one of the main causes, which leads to the lack of water and drought. A drought-like condition exists in most of India’s part. Government of India states that 68% of the country is disposed to the drought, which (consequences are) leads to massive migration of people to more favorable places, famine, conflicts among inhabitants. India is known in the world as one of the biggest producers of water-intensive crops such as rice, sugarcane and wheat. According to a survey done by Grail Research, approximately 82% of total water is used for agricultural consumption and 90% of it is employed for irrigation of rice, wheat and sugarcane (Grail Research, LLC, 2009). There are several solutions which could lead to the decr...