Trading Tractors for Camels
by Bonnie Alter, London 
on 05. 7.08
Farmers in Rajasthan, India are forsaking their gas-guzzling tractors and returning to using their trusty camels for haulage. Due to rising gas prices farmers are rediscovering the "ships of the desert". The price of a good camel has gone up sharply as a result: two years ago they were almost the same price as goats, now they are three times the price. A good male camel will live for 60 to 80 years and costs $973.00 while the cheapest tractor is $4,000. This is good news according to the League for Pastoral Peoples and Endogenous Livestock Development because the camel population has been falling over the past ten years and this could lead to a revival of this age-old usage.
Camels have a long and regal history in India. Traditionally they were used by maharajas and had great status as did their breeders. Now decreasing amounts of grazing land and lack of investment in the existing lands have resulted in inadequate nutrition and lowered the resilience of the herds. Camel slaughter is forbidden in India but in fact sources believe that it is rampant, with the meat exported to Bangladesh. Not only is the use of camels being promoted but also its by-products such as camel milk, camel leather handbags and camel bone jewellery. :: Financial Times
Follow @TreeHugger on Twitter & get our headlines with @TH_rss!
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
- 7 Ways the Troubled Automotive Industry Could Change Your Car and Your Commute
- Green Glossary: Meltwater
- Why Building Community is the Greenest Thing You Can Do
- Green Glossary: Naturopathy
- Find Your Dinner at the Farmers' Market: Peas and Prosciutto
- Green Glossary: Bagasse
And I was just commenting the other day on horses in agriculture...
Seems that common sense will ultimately prevail. People seem to think a future of bikes and animal power laughable and believe that the future must have cars of some description. But the solutions are oh so far off and so difficult to implement.
Except this is today. And yesterday. And centuries before that.
We have lived sustainable lives before. Why is it such a challenge?
Why is it presented as a good thing when developing societies are forced to return to less efficient ways? You can't have a little bit of progress, or a little bit of development, who decides how much and who gets it? The farmer will get a fifth of the work completed in a day working with a camel rather than a tractor, he will forever be locked in poverty as a result. Should he go back to the stone age rather than use metal too, burn cow pats instead of a kerosene stove? The farmer being forced to return to his camel is a sympton of governments meddling in markets rather than a return to better ways.
The camel is the ship of the desert, how that reminds me of school! Rising gas prices are making people turn to all sorts of alternatives, that's for sure.
Stuart Burn, I think you have the typical "1st world" response to peoples using existing and proven techniques and ideas. I believe it comes from the fact that we are always hailing science, technology, and progress as the core of what makes humans great and what has made our society great, completely ignoring the fact that science, technology, and progress are what got us into this environmental mess we are in to begin with.
Looking at the camels "stats" it looks like owning a camel poses a no lose situation. They will live as long or will outlive the farmers. They require less resources to live and the cost much less to buy and most likely maintain than a tractor. Sure their output won't be as high, but because their cost is probably so much lower to own than a tractor, the farmer won't need to make as much money to survive. The farmer has a higher chance of not needing to obtain micro-loans to buy a camel as opposed to a tractor and the farmer has the opportunity to be completely sustainable, feeding the camel excess grown food and using it's poo to fertilize...
So basically Stuart, what's wrong with going back to using camels??
Although I don’t agree with his entire comment, I think that Stuart’s skepticism is well-placed. It seems like we’re missing some important details here. Why did the farmers switch to tractors in the first place if camels are so culturally valued, low-priced, and efficient? Obviously there was a considerable benefit, or no farmer would have ever taken the trouble to purchase and learn how to use a new $4000 machine. Truly judging the “better” alternative here would require a much more in depth analysis of the costs and benefits of each over time, and I don’t see any evidence that this has been done.
In some aspects, the switch to camels could be a very positive thing – smaller footprints, lower farming costs, and more sustainable family farms are great. But we also have to consider other members of the community who rely on the output of these farms. If production outputs decrease considerably due to the tractor-to-camel switch, there will be less food on the market. Less food means higher prices, more people who can’t afford food, and, eventually, more hunger in the community. Good for the environment, not so good for the earth’s growing human population..
What Becky mentions here is correct, but take a second look and you’ll realize that growing human population is at the root of the problem. Mother earth simply cannot support these many human beings. It’s true that there will be a shortage of food by using a camel than a tractor, and that will indeed cause hunger….but maybe that will help control population?? Nature has to get rid of us humans somehow? If not hunger, then cancer and many other diseases (as result of using coal ,Oil, etc to increase food production and support our current energy needs!!!)
How about using less, eating less and being content with what we have? Stop celebrating science and technology…..
By the way, I’m an engineer,,,,and I have never felt as much shame as I do nowadays…
I think I may be the only person thinking: "poor camel" :(
It's nice to think of the very few respected camels, but I can't help but think of the many thousands more that has been abused, overburdened, tortured for humanity's "progress". Horses and other "beasts of burden" too.
While not exactly a camel it's interesting to see Massey Ferguson launched a eco range of tractors today.
http://www.ourpatch.com.au/australia/users/pippas83/blogs/926-farmers-welcome-eco-friendly-tractors