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There was little fluctuation from week to week in the percentage of the recommended energy levels met by the 40 study families in the rapidly developing village of Dokur. The lowest week's intake coincided with the week after Sankranti, the harvest festival, for which there was no logical explanation. During one week of the harvest season, adult energy intake went up significantly, again for no discernible reason.
Weekly average energy intakes for individual households showed greater fluctuations five families (12.5 per cent) were chronically energy deficient, i.e. the family met less than 80 per cent of its estimated calorie requirement nearly every round throughout the year. The other families were above this level, but did show random fluctuations. These five families had special problems. One family was simply over-cautious. Stocks were adequate and so was the family's land base. However, the male head of the household was the only son, and his household contained his two wives and his mother, as well as children. He was well-educated and kept meticulous books. His overly cautious nature was the main reason for his family's low dietary intake. Another family should not have been classified as landowners because they had sold their previously adequate wet and dry land as well as their farm equipment in order to marry off a son. They were then reduced to working as agricultural and/or construction labourers to pay off their extraordinary debts.
The last three families were all harijans who were not only poor and had too little land on to which to grow adequate crops, but they also faced social problems. Within these families such characteristics as laziness, excessive toddy consumption, and/or lack of enough working members prevented the families from rising above their impoverished state. All were extremely ill-nourished, which was reflected in low weight for height.
None of the anthropometric indices used showed marked seasonal changes, although there was a non-significant decrease during the rainy season in all measurements. An increased energy expenditure during the period along with a stable energy intake could account for the slight decrease. The patterns described above were consistently evident in spite of seasonality of harvests and fluctuations in labour-force participation rates.
Employment was generally high in Dokur with employment rates at a minimum of 50 per cent and a maximum of 100 per cent of the 180-strong workforce. A significant increase in irrigation, mentioned earlier, is responsible for increasing the demand for labour. Increased irrigation was directly related to the policy of the State Bank of India and the Land Mortgage Bank to loan money for the construction of wells and for other farm improvements, such as seeds, fertilizers, and labour costs. Bank officers said that no one from Dokur had ever defaulted on a loan repayment; thus farmers were actively encouraged to seek both short- and long-term loans. There were no other major forces, e.g. World Bank projects, that could be considered change agents, with the exception of sporadic visits by Village Development Officers. A survey of all village households to determine the dates of farm improvements and credit sources clearly reinforced the view that bank loans were responsible for farm development.
Fluctuations in illness rates appeared to be related to two factors: high labour-force participation and the nature of the work during those periods. Illness or at least complaints of illness peaked during the two periods that would favour disease transmission-the wet season and the winter rabi season. These were also periods of the greatest farm activity and the most strenuous work
Both energy consumption and anthropometric indices were less than optimal. When the AERs were compared with a similar group of Dokur families studied from 1976 to 1978, the current study families were better off as a whole [3, 25]. However, 3 to 8 per cent more of the earlier study families met 80 per cent or more of the AER for those of six and older. Children under six from the current study group did not appear to be so well off as the earlier study children. The two groups were not exactly comparable because the age group classifications of the young children differed by one year in the two groups. The differences were substantial, however: in the current study group, 11 to 20 per cent fewer children under six met 80 per cent or more of the AER.
When anthropometric data from the two studies were compared, the means for weight for height for those over six years of age were either the same or had improved for the current study subjects. For the three- to five-year-old age group, there was no change. Below three years of age, a comparison could not be made, as children under one year were excluded from the earlier study because the values for breast-milk consumption were too low.
That the 40 current study families were, overall, better off than those studied from 1976 to 1978 was not surprising. As mentioned previously, irrigated land had increased from 30 per cent in 1976 to close to 50 per cent in 1983 and with it had come benefits in many measurable areas including assets, income, and labour participation. In both studies, however, income and assets were not significant determinants of energy intake.
When the sum of crops harvested and/or wages was assessed for adequacy in meeting family energy requirements, it was found that over 70 per cent of the families had adequate access to food either through crops harvested or wage income. Over the entire year, however, the transaction data indicated that debt levels were quite high; 45 per cent of the families were net debtors, but this did not translate into decreased food consumption.
The lack of seasonal variation in food consumption may be partly attributable to the reasonably stable food prices. An exception was the market price for groundnuts, a cash crop, which fluctuated widely, up 75 per cent from the lowest rate. Larger farmers certainly took advantage of this by frequently holding groundnuts until the price had increased substantially. Vegetable prices also showed seasonal trends which were met by a shift in consumption to cheaper vegetables or none at all, while fruit, principally mangoes, bananas, and custard apples, remained more or less fixed in price. Sorghum (jowar) increased in price no more than 10 per cent during the Year and paddy virtually not at all because of government control of paddy prices. Most sorghum was grown for home consumption and did not enter the market at all.
When stepwise regressions were carried out, the contribution to increasing energy intake made by working females 12 years of age or above was significant 10 times during the first 13 weeks of the study. This period coincided with the slack season when wages are the lowest of the year (3 rupees per day). The results suggest that these working women use what they earn to augment family food consumption. Other limited seasonal effects were related to having harvested a crop within the previous four weeks as well as the depressing effect of illness on energy intakes for three consecutive weeks during the rainy season.
In order to meet their loan payments farmers expressed the need to have good labour relations. To this end, loaning paddy or giving away food has created a cycle of interdependency between owners and workers. As the large farmers' own incomes have increased substantially, more of them have acquired land from small farmers who have joined the labour market. One of us (P.D.B.) has observed this village since 1977 and has data on land transactions, land prices, income, and wage rates which substantiate this trend.
Borrowing existed at several different levels, and a villager was free to use any or all of the various borrowing options mentioned earlier. He would first turn to his caste-fellow for small quantities of paddy or rice, but might also ask his neighbours for short-term loans; he might also go directly to a large farmer, for whom he worked as a rule, to demand cooked food. in our experience, living near the Dokur sarpanch's house, we were amazed at the volume of cooked rice that was given away. In return for lending paddy, the farmer built a strong relationship with the potential labourer, and this person became obliged to work for him when he needed help.
Debt repayment might be made in other ways as well. A debt might be "worked off," possibly through the "permanent servant" system. Money was harder to collect than crop loans, although it was preferred because of the possible change in crop value. Above all, debts were of a circular nature in Dokur; someone was always borrowing to pay off another debt, and so on. It was this system, we believe, that accounts, in part, for the lack of a strong effect of seasonality on food intake.
Although Dokur is a village that has succeeded in finding its own mechanisms to keep food consumption stabilized through augmenting irrigation, and thereby increasing production, the policy of easy credit terms which created stabilization has its drawbacks. The pool of landless labourers has increased as the small farmers have sold their land in response to an increase in prices. Although male and female labourers could and did periodically leave the village to take up contract work in order to pay off debts, and although permanent servant positions are always available, in a period of prolonged drought the authors doubt that these two means can take up all the slack labour. The question also arises as to the farmers' ability to pay off loans during a drought year.
That farmers found it difficult to farm small plots posed another problem. High wage rates looked attractive to small family farmers, who found that the larger farmers needed their services at exactly the same period that their own crops needed attention. This has, we feel, led to an increasing number of small farmers selling their land, thus widening the gap between the landless and landed.
Implications for policy
This particular study of 40 families in a rapidly changing village, typical of much of the semi-arid tropics of south India, provides some implications for policy-makers concerned with the issue of seasonal fluctuations in food supply. The subjects of this study ranged from low-caste landless labourer families to large farm families and higher castes, and as such they reflect the range found in most villages in India.
In areas where there is potential for agricultural development, that is, much of the semi-arid tropics of India, bank policies to extend credit to farmers on flexible and favourable terms may contribute substantially to improving the welfare of both farmers and agricultural labourers, who may benefit through the increased employment opportunities. Flexibility should involve a willingness to loan money for all types of farm development: irrigation, seed, and fertilizer, as well as labour costs. Low interest rates and repayment tied to post-harvest periods are also necessary.
All policies should be flexible enough to meet the often precarious farming conditions of the semi-arid tropics. When the monsoon fails, as it occasionally does, bank policies to suspend payments should take effect.
When drought occurs, labour opportunities are drastically diminished for a section of the village population, which has no alternative means of support other than to become permanent servants or to leave the village to become contract construction labour. Such government programmes as the food-for-work programme should be in place at all times to take up slack employment and prevent people from forced migration in search of work. There are always public works that can be carried out by such people; for example, the shoulders of roads are perpetually in need of restoration, as are all the secondary dirt roads in rural areas.
Support prices for staple crops, such as paddy, also contribute to preventing marked fluctuations in food consumption, as farmers have little reason to hoard stocks and are willing to loan paddy both with and without interest, depending upon the quantity involved.
It should be recognized by policy-makers that the villagers themselves have an ability to work out solutions to problems. In Dokur, the internal mechanism of borrowing and lending has solved some of the problems of seasonal fluctuations in food supply during slack periods of employment or, for that matter, at virtually any time. Policy makers should recognize the importance of studying how villagers solve their own problems.
There are still many related problems that need to be addressed. Agriculturally, there is a need for more active participation by extension agents in Dokur. With the increase in irrigation, groundnuts are grown continuously, resulting in a high incidence of the groundnut virus, which lowers the yield. The virus levels could be reduced if farmers were encouraged not to plant their small summer season crop. This, as any extension agent knows, would break the virus cycle, as there is no other host plant cultivated during the short summer season.
The problem of lack of access to free and adequate medical care should also be addressed. Dokur residents are not alone in finding primary health centres ill-equipped, poorly staffed, and far away. The auxiliary nurse midwife should visit the village at least once a week.
Finally, the question of maldistribution of food must be more adequately documented and addressed. In the study, there is evidence of maldistribution of food in favour of those over six years of age.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the United Nations University and Charles and Rowena Day for their generous financial support of this research. P. D. Bidinger also wishes to thank the faculty of the Department of Social Anthropology, Cambridge University, for their support during the academic year of 1983/1984, when she was a Visiting Scholar. For computational and programming assistance in Cambridge, we are in debt to Mrs. K. Edgcombe, M.A, A.F.I.M.A., A. Edwards, N. Hobson and Mrs. E. Howard, M.A.
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