Mechanisation of Rice Farming, 1950–1960

Mechanisation, the replacement of labour by machines, occurred on farms using tractors and combines and was predominantly implemented in the period 1950–1960. Its success or failure can be gauged from the persistence of the smallholder farmer. Using this indicator, the chapter is structured as follows. Section 8.2 discusses the urbanisation that undermined the consolidation of the district population and the gradual transformation of the peasantry. The government responded to this with a new form of ruralisation policy that consisted mainly of the development of district centres. That analysis is followed in Sect. 8.3 by an account of the attempt to revitalise the country by modernising agriculture to make it attractive for farmers. In Sect. 8.4, the planned build-up is followed by the establishment of family-based middle-class settlements in Nickerie. Section 8.5 discusses the effects of mechanisation. That included the erosion of the relationship between the traditional agrarian human capital and the cooperation among the Girmitiyas. Section 8.6 discusses the effects of these interventions on rice productionRice-production.