Agriculture and Colonialism in 19th Century India

European Agricultural Practices and Environmental Impact

• The introduction of European agricultural practices, such as cash cropping, replaced traditional hunting and farming methods, leading to damaged ecosystems, reduced soil fertility, and desertification.
• Examples of cash cropping include opium plantations in India and rubber plantations in Burma.

Postcolonial Ecocriticism

• Postcolonial ecocritics explore the themes of the politics of Earth, environmental justice, and the exploitation of landscapes and seascapes in colonized countries.
• The politics of Earth involves the exploitation of land and resources by European colonizers, including forest exploitation, plantation, gardening, and resource extraction.
• Scholars like Elizabeth DeLoughery examine the exploitation of seascape and islands in the global South.
• Postcolonial ecocritics often refer to their field of study as environmental justice.

Sea of Poppies and the British Exploitation of Agriculture

• The novel Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh explores the exploitative attitude of the British towards agriculture and harvesting.
• The novel opens with a description of poppy fields in the Gangetic plains, which are suitable for poppy cultivation.
• The British exploited the natural resources of colonized countries, including India, for their own benefit.