Human Ecology and Rational Economic Behavior: Agricultural Practices As A Case In Point

A study of the extent of irrigation practices in certain Texas counties re certain features (eg, climate & geography), of the physical environment, & the significance of these findings in connection with criticism of classical human ecology. A study of 16 Texas counties located in the same river basin & having the same type of aquifer showed the following around 1960: (a) of the 8 counties with an annual rainfall of 25 inches or more, all had less than 10% of the cropland irrigated, regardless of the average pumping capacity of the wells; (b) of the 8 counties with less than 25 inches of rainfall per yr, those 2 counties with wells having an average pumping capacity of less than 400 gallons per minute had less than 10% of the cropland irrigated; (c) those 6 counties with wells with an average pumping capacity of more than 400 gallons per minute had more than 10% of the cropland irrigated. In a response to the question of why there was more or less irrigation than in 1949, none of the R's in the counties with a high (40 inches or more) annual rainfall indicated that rainfall was insufficient, while all of the responses in the low (20 inches or less) annual rainfall counties indicated that rainfall was insufficient. In response to questions of whether geographical features of the county had an influence on the greater or lesser use of irrigation since 1949, & whether local poll policies (taxation, etc) had an influence on irrigation since 1949, (N= 48), 87.5% indicated geographical factors were determining, while 6.3% thought pol'l matters were determining. The results of the study indicate that agriculturists in certain Texas counties react & perceive the physical environment in a rational way. Thus classical human ecology's rejection of the assumption of rational econ behavior is itself rejected. G. K. Speal.