Configuración de la seguridad en redes de área local

Full details of the village compositions are available in Appendices 6.1 to 6.3 (pp. 373-375). Key information is summarised below:

Table 6.1: The Villages at a Glance

Village Bantala Nandanapuram Orgampalle

Population 2,800 people (428 households) 3,500 (971 households) 202 (52 households) Caste composition FC – 1 per cent; BC – 59 per cent; SC – 40 per cent FC – 1 per cent; BC – 59 per cent SC – 40 per cent FC – 0 BC – 100 per cent SC – 0 Dominant Caste

BC Kuruma (fifty-one per cent of land holding)

No one caste dominant. Majority of village land held by SC Madigas (thirty- seven per cent) and BC Gowdas (twenty-six per cent).

BC Mudhiraj (eighty- two per cent of land holding)

Sarpanch BC Kuruma female BC Gowda female (previously SC Madiga male)

BC Mannuru Kapu male (in neighbouring village)

Percentage of land allocated to cotton

61 (all Bt) 63 (90 per cent Bt; 10 per cent NPM) 17 (all organic) Percentage of population landless 5 (21 households) 10 (97 households) 0.5 (1 household)

FC: Forward Caste; BC: Backward Caste; SC: Scheduled Caste

Pseudonyms have been used for the villages and participants in order to preserve their anonymity. Bantala and Orgampalle are located approximately ten kilometres from each other in south Warangal, while Nandanapuram is located one hundred kilometres from the other two villages in the north of the district.

Village One: Bantala

The village of Bantala is comprised of two thousand eight hundred people. This is large by Indian standards. Details of the village composition are available as Appendix 6.1 (p. 373). The majority of the village is comprised of Backward Castes (sixty per cent), with a limited number of Forward Caste Vaishyas (one per cent). The dominant caste is the Backward Caste Kuruma who own fifty-one per cent of the village land, and account for just over twenty per cent of the total number of households (see Appendix 6.1, p. 373). The current sarpanch is a Backward Caste Kuruma female. However, it is her husband (Pallav) who is dominant in managing village affairs.

As can be seen from Appendix 6.1 (p. 373), Bantala has a large population of Scheduled Castes (forty per cent). Of these, the majority are Madigas (eighty-eight per cent), while Malas account for twelve per cent. Despite the numerical strength of the Madigas, they own only fourteen per cent of village land, most of which is waste land allocated to them as part of land reform, and half of which is unfit for cultivation. They are not mobilised along caste lines, not least due to the control exerted by Pallav over many aspects of village life.

Cotton is the main crop cultivated in the village and accounts for just over sixty per cent of the cultivable area. Only Bt cotton varieties are cultivated. The other main crops are paddy, pulses and chilli. In the case of larger land-holders, these crops are

grown for the market, as well as for personal consumption, while many small and marginal land holders grow some paddy for personal consumption only.

All households, apart from four (which includes Pavan, the Forward Caste participant), have ration cards which entitle them to subsidised food from the Public Distribution System. There is evidence of house construction in all caste wards. A large canal has been excavated for irrigation. However, it cannot be used as the tributaries to bring water to the fields have not been completed due to lack of funding. A red Communist Party (Marxist) flag flutters aloft a flagpole in the centre of the village.

There is no direct involvement between Bantala and NGOs for agricultural purposes. In December 2008, thirty buffaloes escaped and grazed on the Bt cotton fields. By morning, more than half were dead. The villagers link the deaths with the animals having grazed on the Bt cotton fields. Although scientists, politicians and NGOs visited the village and conducted post mortems, the animal owners have not been advised of the test results. Shortly after the deaths, the Director of Animal Husbandry in Warangal issued his advice that farmers should not graze their animals on Bt cotton fields.

Nandanapuram

The village of Nandanapuram is very large, with a population of three thousand five hundred inhabitants. The village composition is provided as Appendix 6.2 (p. 374).

Like Bantala, it is comprised mainly of Backward Castes (fifty-nine per cent), with a small population (one per cent) of Forward Castes. Unlike in Bantala, the Forward Caste population in Nandanapuram includes Brahmins.

As can be seen from Appendix 6.2 (p. 374), the Scheduled Castes in Nandanapuram also comprise forty per cent of village households. Unlike in Bantala, however, the Scheduled Caste population is comprised entirely of Madigas. The Madigas in Nandanapuram are characterised by a far higher degree of caste identification and mobilisation than was the case in Bantala. Their strong position in the village is under-pinned by their ownership of thirty-seven per cent of the village land. Interviews with villagers also highlighted, however, that there is a high concentration of agricultural labourers among the Madiga population. The greater dispersal of land among a variety of castes in Nandanapuram (with a significant portion of it being in the ownership of a Scheduled Caste) means that no one caste is identified as being dominant. Instead, power is highly contested.

Cotton cultivation in Nandanapuram is slightly higher than in Bantala at sixty-three per cent of the cultivable area. The majority of the remaining land is sown to paddy. Inter-cropping, which involves the simultaneous sowing of a number of crops on the same land and is associated with enhanced soil fertility, is practised to a far greater extent than in Bantala. In the case of Nandanapuram, not all of the cotton is sown to Bt varieties. Instead, ten per cent is cultivated using Non- Pesticide Management (NPM) methods, involving non-Bt seed varieties.

Unlike Bantala, Nandanapuram has a strong association with NGOs for agricultural purposes, primarily with the Deccan Development Society. Like Bantala, there is evidence of house construction throughout the village, as well as an incomplete canal excavated for irrigation purposes. Nandanapuram is also associated with sporadic reports of sheep deaths over a number of years which, farmers argue, have been caused by their escaping to graze on Bt cotton fields.

Orgampalle

The caste composition of the organic village, Orgampalle, is included as Appendix 6.3 (p. 375). The village is small, with a population of just two hundred and two inhabitants (fifty-two households). For administrative purposes, it is a hamlet to a neighbouring village, where the sarpanch and panchayat office are also located. Unlike both Bantala and Nandanapuram, Orgampalle is characterised by its caste homogeneity and the population is comprised entirely of Backward Castes. Ninety- two per cent of households (all except four) are from the Mudhiraj caste which is the dominant caste and owns eighty-two per cent of the village land. The remaining four households are two each from the Chakali and Yadava Backward Caste jatis.

Crop diversity is higher in Orgampalle than in the other villages. Cotton cultivation accounts for just seventeen per cent of cultivable land. Other crops cultivated include paddy (twenty-four per cent of cultivated land), red gram164 (fifteen per

164

cent) and smaller areas sown to sesame,165 maize,166 green gram,167 black gram168 and vegetables. It is important to note that Orgampalle is supported not only by a local NGO, Crops Jangaon, but also international NGOs, such as Oxfam. This NGO network serves to alleviate the risks of organic cultivation for this village, providing invaluable extension services, as well as employment to some villagers, and contributing to the communal philosophy which defines Orgampalle’s approach to risk negotiation.

The cultivation of Bt cotton is banned as part of the ‘rules’ agreed upon between Crops Jangaon, a local NGO, and the villagers. These rules are painted in Telugu on the wall of a house on entry to the village. (They have been translated and included as Appendix 6.4, p. 376). All households in the village have a ration card which entitles them to PDS rations. There is also evidence of house construction along the one main street of which Orgampalle is comprised.

The village map of Orgampalle, provided as Appendix 6.7 (p. 379), highlights that there is less caste segregation in Orgampalle than in the other two villages. Although caste jatis are grouped together, all participants live in greater proximity to each other than is the case in the other two villages (see Appendices 6.5 and 6.6, pp. 377-378).

165

Sesamum indicum. Highly drought resistant, sesame is the oldest oilseed crop known to man. 166

Zea mays or corn. Known for its ability to grow in diverse climates. 167

Vigna radiata or mung bean is used in the making of crepes and dal and is a rich source of low-fat protein. Evidence indicates the crop has been cultivated in India for three thousand five hundred years. 168

Known as Vigna mungo, black gram is used to make dal, and is one of the most prized pulses in India. After paddy, Andhra Pradesh is known for its cultivation of black gram, particularly Coastal Andhra.