The Historical Development of Paddy Cultivation

In this chapter we will present a brief review of the history of paddy cultivation, and a discussion of how rice itself changes over time due to the ‘Unbalance of Nature’ and to the process of cultivation. We will discuss the origin of rice, its reproduction and evolution, and the development of variation in rice. We will then discuss the development of paddy cultivation in India, asking how and why the social, political, and economic development of agriculture occurred during British colonialism, the Green Revolution, and neo-liberalism, resulting in the present agricultural crisis.