Geoinformation Perspectives for Managing Change in Ecological Economy of Rainfed Regions

Abstract

Geoinformation and ecological economy share a strong attribute viz., scale. Scale of entities acting therewith and their role as key development influences. Ecological economy as a process, dealing with products realised at various scales of aggregation of stakes, can have a strong parallel with geoinformation systems capable of representing range of natural and manmade entities as well as their juxtapositions. Agricultural economy generally pertains to generation of assets based on performance of cropped lands and excludes often, the asset generation accomplished using other associated natural resources like forest , fish and recreation. Asset generation based on these latter activities using ecologically non invasive approaches may be considered along with agricultural economy, as a true context of ecological economy or a strongly ecology based economy. Farm economy in most of the rainfed contexts retains for better part, remains at times, a conventional approach of selecting crops and modest level of external inputs due to individuals’ investment capacity. Global level changes either physical or fiscal in nature are increasingly influencing the cropping pattern and related land use initiatives and is pushing near subsistence systems to change. Possible attributes inherent to the system may explain why it is important to perceive the phenomeon as strongly ecology oriented i. Autecological and synecological processes of a crop strongly determines the asset creation for an average farmer. ii. Asset generation as influenced by biotic, climatic and other locality factors acquire stronger ecological connotations. Since any intervention of innovation does not gain significance unless it crosses threshold of either a spatial or temporal scale, in terms of asset generation/ecological amelioration, it is essential to retain intrinsic scale reference. iii. As trends in rainfed farming either with regard to man or his biota related actions have huge impact on the regional market/policy, by virtue of a success or a failure otherwise, it would be naïve to consider the case as a fit candidate under ecological economy.