An Ecological View of a Subsistence Economy Based Mainly on the Production of Rice in Swiddens and in Irrigated Fields in a Hilly Region of Northern Thailand

Abstract

Some aspects of the subsistence economy of a Skaw Karen tribal village, based mainly on rice production in swiddens and in wet fields in a hilly region of Northern Thailand, were quantitatively investigated. The labor productivity at swiddens in terms of energy, that is, the ratio between the combustion energy of husked rice from swiddens and net energy expenditure of a worker, was calculated to be not more than 14.5 which was estimated to be far less than that at wet paddy fields without the input of compost and chemical fertilizer. In normal years, approximately 45 percent of the total annual rice production in this village is surplus, above the base subsistence level (domestic consumption plus reserve for seeds). Roughly 40 percent of this surplus is consumed by the herd of pigs in the village. The amount for sale is not very great in terms of the percentage to the total rice production of the village. A consideration using a simple model elucidated that the rice production at swiddens alone can hardly provide the surplus above the base subsistence level. The huge surplus which this village produces results chiefly from the rice production in wet fields. For a swiddener, cultivation of a wet field hardly reduces the production at his swidden, but adds to the yield of his swidden. Furthermore, the management of wet paddy fields improves the average labor productivity of a swiddener. For religious reasons, the villagers are obliged to keep a large herd of pigs. Their desire to multiply the number of pigs is very great and not yet satisfied. The herd seems to fill the role of shock absorber against a bad harvest. Although the calory and protein intake of the inhabitants derives mostly from rice, the nutritional state there is not considered to be very poor.