Bitter Shade: Throwing Light on Politics and Ecology in Contemporary Pakistan

2003 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 229-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael R. Dove

Farmers in the rainfed tracts of Pakistan’s Punjab and North-West Frontier Provinces interpret the on-farm interaction between annual crops and trees in terms of sayah, “tree shade.” Tree shade is conceived as an emission that is thought to have density, temperature, taste, and size (which itself is thought to have length, width, height, and duration). Farmers believe the character of shade and its impact upon their crops varies by tree species and also by season and land type. This complex system of beliefs attests to the commitment of farmers to on-farm tree cultivation and contradicts government foresters’ beliefs that farmers are hostile to the presence of trees on farms. The farmers’ belief system collapses a dichotomy between tree and crop, forest and farm, forest department and farmer, and indeed nature and culture, that serves the interests of the Forest Department. This analysis suggests that the most mundane, quotidian resource practices may have profound political implications, that environmental knowledge is often (if not always) partisan knowledge, and that cultural meaning is not divorced from politicaleconomic dynamics.

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 261-271
Author(s):  
Daniel McLoughlin

In this interview, Vicki Kirby discusses her research into the relationship between nature and culture, focusing in particular on her recent edited collection, What If Culture Was Nature All Along? The volume appears in the ‘New Materialisms’ series, and so the interview begins by situating the collection with respect to the recent materialist turn in social theory. Kirby discusses the influence of deconstruction on her thought, and the way that she draws upon Derrida to think through recent research in the life sciences and its implications for understanding the relationship between matter, life, and communication. She also goes into the political implications of her work and the relationship between biopolitics and biodeconstruction.


2021 ◽  
pp. 215-234
Author(s):  
Katarzyna I. Wojtylak

Murui, a Witototan language spoken in southern Colombia and northern Peru, has at its disposal a number of linguistic features that mirror the structure of the Murui society, the Murui belief system, the environment the Murui people live in, and their means of subsistence. Demonstrable associations between linguistic and non-linguistic features (the so-called “integration points”) discussed here are: classifiers (and their significance in terms of the Murui beliefs, religion, spirits, and dreams, and the means of subsistence), possessive marking (vs. the relations within the Murui community, social hierarchies, and kinship categorization), spatial adverbs (vs. the means of subsistence and physical environment), and linguistic avoidance terms (vs. the beliefs, religion, spirits, and dreams). As the Murui people are gradually being drawn into the Colombian market economy and relevant cultural practises become obsolete, some correlations described here are more prone to disintegrate than others.


1997 ◽  
Vol 48 (7) ◽  
pp. 1059 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa A. Lobry de Bruyn ◽  
T. J. Kingston

In 1989 a replicated split-plot trial on a Krasnozem soil was established at Elliott Research Station (ERS) in the north-west of Tasmania, as well as 14 on-farm trials in newly irrigated pastures on 3 different soil types (Alluvial, Podzolic, Krasnozem) in the dairy districts of Scottsdale, Smithton, and Deloraine. There were 3 main treatments at ERS: irrigated before grazing, irrigated after grazing, and grazed and not irrigated. Part of each main plot was fenced to prevent trampling but still allowed grazing. Effects of summer irrigation and trampling by dairy cows were examined for pasture production, and soil chemical and structural properties. Summer irrigation at ERS and on-farm trials has led to a decline in soil structure indicated by slower ponded water in filtration rates on irrigated plots compared with the dryland plots. The decline in ponded water in filtration rates suggests a reduction in macroporosity, especially in the soil surface. However, other indicators for soil structural change in the top 100 mm|percentage water-stable aggregates (>2·5 mm) and bulk density|revealed no significant variation between the irrigated and dryland paddocks. There were, however, higher water in filtration rates and lower bulk densities in the untrampled areas than the trampled areas at ERS. Pasture production at ERS was about 50% more with irrigation in each of the 2 years of the study. Data collected at ERS in autumn and spring on the numbers of Aporrectodea caliginosa(Savigny) and Lumbricus rubellus (Hoffmeister) earthworms showed that they respond quite differently to irrigation. After 2 irrigation seasons, A. caliginosa numbers in irrigated plots dropped by over 50%, whereas in the dryland plots densities of this earthworm have remained around 390 earthworms/m 2. In contrast the densities of L. rubellus at ERS rose under irrigation practices, especially in the autumn{winter sampling period. Therefore, with the advent of summer irrigation at ERS, there was a shift in earthworm composition from a fauna dominated by A. caliginosa to a fauna with an increasing proportion of L. rubellus and a decreasing number of A. caliginosa. The typical dairy pasture in the on-farm trials recorded 2 main species, A. caliginosa (70%) and L. rubellus (30%). Total earthworm densities were highest in the north-west (Smithton) region of the State (293{351 earthworms/m 2) regardless of soil type, and the lowest densities were recorded in the Alluvial soils of Deloraine (96 earthworms/m 2). The north-west area also had the most diverse earthworm fauna, with 5 species recorded in one site: A. caliginosa, A. longa, Allolobophora chlorotica, L. rubellus, and O. cyaneum. Summer irrigation effects after 2 seasons on earthworm composition and abundance on dairy farms caused no significant change in A. caliginosa numbers, but there was a 45% increase in the numbers of L. rubellus in irrigated treatments. L. rubellus was considerably more active over summer in irrigated paddocks (25 earthworms/m 2) than in non-irrigated paddocks (7 earthworms/m 2). In contrast the number of A. caliginosa recorded in dryland paddocks was not statistically different to the irrigated paddocks, but the A. caliginosa in dryland paddocks were mostly inactive 8-20 mm from the soil surface.


2000 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimas FLORIANI

O debate sobre ciência, sociedade e natureza, na perspectiva da construção de um novo conhecimento interdisciplinar, exige uma reflexão crítica sobre os fundamentos da racionalidade científica moderna. Por outro lado, a crítica que se faz ao conhecimento científico, coincide com a crítica ao fracionamento que se faz entre sociedade e natureza, com todas as suas implicações sócio-culturais e políticas. Razão instrumental e sistema de crenças andam juntos. Daí que uma crítica profunda sobre a racionalidade e as práticas científicas, no âmbito da relação sociedade-natureza, deve buscar reaproximar os saberes disciplinares, principalmente os das ciências da vida, da natureza e da sociedade. Esse diálogo entre saberes científicos não pode, entretanto, excluir as outras formas de conhecimento do mundo, da natureza e das sociedades. ABSTRACT The debate on science, nature and society, from the perspective of the construction of a new interdisciplinary knowledge, requires critical refelctions on the bases of modern scientific rationality. On the other hand, the critique of scientific knowledge that has been made coincides with the critique of the division between society and nature, with all of its socio-cultural and political implications. Instrumental reason and belief system develop together. Therefore, a deep critique of rationality and scientific practices, from the perspective of the societynature relationship, should seek to bring the knowledge that has been separated into different disciplines closer together again, especially with regard to the life sciences, that is, those of nature and society. This dialogue between fields of scientific knowledge should not, at the same time, exclude other forms of knowing the world, nature and society.


2000 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. CHRISTIANSEN ◽  
M. BOUNEJMATE ◽  
F. BAHHADY ◽  
E. THOMSON ◽  
B. MAWLAWI ◽  
...  

Over a period of seven years farmers participated in trials in which common vetch (Vicia sativa (V)) or chickling (Lathyrus sativus (C)) replaced the fallow in a barley (Hordeum vulgare)–fallow rotation (F) or were introduced into continuous barley cropping (B) – giving a total of four rotations, B–F, B–B, B–V and B–C. Trials on 4 ha, 2 ha per phase of each rotation, were replicated on 6–8 farms. Some vetch and chickling crops were grazed in spring. Mean seven-year dry matter yields were 2.91 t ha−1 for B–F, 4.82 t for B–B, 5.02 t for B–C and 5.32 t for B–V; total crude protein outputs were twice as high from rotations including legumes; and the B–V rotation yielded most metabolizable energy. Realizing the benefit, farmers started to adopt vetch. In 1991 three farmers were growing vetch on 7 ha but by 1997 174 farmers in 15 villages were growing vetch on 420 ha. Forage legumes will not, however, become more widely grown until inexpensive and efficient mechanized methods of harvesting the mature crop are available in order to avoid the high cost of hand labour. Drought and cold tolerance, early maturation and high harvest index may also enhance farmers' interest in forage legumes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (2F) ◽  
pp. 62-73
Author(s):  
Hiba Kareem ◽  
Manal Al-Kubaisi ◽  
Ghazi Hasan Alshar'a

This study used structural contour maps to carry out the geometrical analysis for Faihaa structure in Basra southern Iraq. The study used row data of well logs and structural maps while Softwares were Didger 4, Stereonet v.11 and Petrel 2017 Faihaa Oil Field is located at an eastern part of the Mesopotamian Zone within the Zubair Subzone, characterized by subsurface geological structures covered by Quaternary sediments. These structures are oriented in the NW-SE direction in the eastern part of the band and the N-S direction in the southern region, and some in the direction NE-SW. The Faihaa Oil Field shows that is an Anticline structure. The average dip value of an axial surface is 89.7° while the plunge of hinge line between 4–4.2 in North-West direction referred to that Faihaa Structure is upright and gentle fold. Based on the Thickness ratio and axial angle, the Faihaa Structure is thickened Fold. The eastern limb of the fold is longer than the western limb, so Faihaa Oil Field is an asymmetrical structure. The difference in dimensions (5<Length / Width < 2) confirmed the brachy fold of the Faihaa structure.


2022 ◽  
pp. 416-430
Author(s):  
Hendrik J. Smith ◽  
Gerhardus Trytsman ◽  
Andre A. Nel

Abstract A project under the Farmer Innovation Programme (FIP) that aimed to adapt Conservation Agriculture (CA) among grain farmers in South Africa was implemented in a commercial farming area of the North West Province. The following on-farm, collaborative-managed trials produced key findings concerning: (i) plant population densities (high versus low) under CA; (ii) conventional crop systems versus CA crop systems; (iii) the testing and screening of cover crops; (iv) green fallow systems for soil restoration; and (v) livestock integration. Key results from these trials were that the yield of maize was significantly higher under high-density no-till (NT) systems compared to the normal NT systems. The yield of maize in local conventional systems was lower than the yield in NT systems tested on three farmer-managed trials. The screening trial assisted in testing and learning the suitability and the different attributes of a range of cover crops in that area. Cover crop mixtures used as a green fallow system with livestock showed that CA can facilitate the successful restoration of degraded soil.


Author(s):  
Seong Yong Moon ◽  
Ho Young Soh

A new species of Boholina, B. ganghwaensis sp. nov. is described, based on specimens collected from burrows of the manicure crab, Cleistostoma dilatatum, in the tidal flat of Ganghwa Island in western Korea. The new species is closely similar to B. purgata and B. parapurgata by having a pointed process on the posterior angles of the second and third pedigerous somites and a similar rostrum in the female, but can be distinguished from its congeners by the following characters: in females by the genital double-somite with small hook-like process on each gonoporal plate, the setation of the distal endopodal segment of mandible, the basis and first endopodal segment of the maxillule incompletely separated, the inner distal spine/outer terminal spine length ratio on P5; and in males by the distal spine present on the posterior surface of the basis of both P5 and the length/width ratio of the endopod of the right P5. This is the first Bololina species recorded from the north-west Pacific.


Author(s):  
Brechtje S. Jooste ◽  
Jon-Vegard Dokken ◽  
Dewald Van Niekerk ◽  
Ruth A. Loubser

This article focuses on the social aspects of climate change and explores the interrelationship between belief systems and adaptation. The links and interaction between external and internal realities are examined from the perspective of contextual vulnerability, with a focus on the multifaceted structure of belief systems. The aim was to determine those challenges regarding climate change adaptation that are caused by a community’s belief system and to make recommendations to overcome them. Diverse perceptions of climate change and beliefs from three townships in the North-West Province of South Africa were collected and analysed using Q-methodology, finding five distinct worldview narratives. These narratives were named naturalist collectivist, religious, religious determinist, activist collectivist and structural thinker. It is recommended that policymakers aim to address diverse views and should be informed by factors that increase resistance to belief revision. Information should be framed in ways that foster the perception of internal control, are clearly evidence based and encourage a desire to learn more.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document