Chapter 4, para 4.1 talks about "changes toward less labour intensive practices" but important to recognise that this often results in changes in cropping pattern. For example, in the Delta of Egypt farmers are being encouraged to conserve water by growing less rice. There is supposed to be a quota on how much area can be sown to paddy. Despite this there are large areas of so called "illegal" paddy. Most farmers in this area are in fact part time and and paddy is the ideal crop which requires minimum attention from planting to harvest so that they can work off farm,
The same situation is noticeable in South-East and South Asia where farmers are often being encouraged to grow non-paddy crops in order to save water, but often with rather limited success.
M. John Weatherhogg