Table 3. Testing Boserup: correlates of agricultural intensification.
Ethnographic Case |
Agricultural |
Population |
Productivity |
Efficiency |
Mexican peasantsa |
Swidden |
low |
12 hectares/family |
--- |
Short-fallow |
medium |
6.5 " |
--- |
|
Irrigated |
high |
0.9 " |
--- |
|
SE Asian rice growersb |
Swidden |
31/mi.2 |
low |
med |
Plow |
255 " |
med |
low |
|
Irrigated |
988 " |
high |
high |
|
Kofyar (Nigeria)c |
Swidden |
low |
7.7 acres/family |
--- |
Short-fallow |
~300/mi.2 |
1.5 acres/family |
--- |
|
aPalerm, Angel (1957) The agricultural basis of urban civilization in Mesoamerica.
bHanks, Lucien M. (1972) Rice and Man: Agricultural Ecology in Southeast Asia. Chicago: Aldine.
cNetting, Robert M. (1969) Ecosystems in process: a comparative study of change in two West African societies. In Ecological Essays, ed. D. Damas, pp 102-112. Ottawa: National Museum of Canada.