ABSTRACT

A general description of the agricultural and economic organization of the scheme will be given here. In this account special emphasis will be given to aspects of the traditional ecology and economy that the scheme and the dam have changed in particular, the aspects underlying the traditional economic insecurity and the fluctuations of agricultural production. The chapter shows that agricultural production in the pre-dam period depended exclusively on natural irrigation by the river flood and rains, both of which fluctuated unpredictably. The development of the social services in the post-dam period has also created many new opportunities for governmental employment. Although in many of these spheres the opportunities have been taken largely by strangers, a growing number of the Hassaniya are entering the occupations that the post-dam development has created. The scheme finances the hired labour needed by the farmers to accomplish their agricultural tasks in time.