Spanish dry-farming: living and working conditions.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Dantin-Gallego J
• Description:
  Living and working conditions associated with Spanish dry farming were discussed. The geographical features of the dry zones of Spain were described. The features of the dry zones which include the areas known as Old and New Castile are comparable to those found in the state of Utah. The climate, flora, and fauna of the dry zones were discussed. It was noted that arid parts of Spain were characterized more by evaporative losses and not by a decrease in annual rainfall, the surface runoff amounting to about 25 percent of the total rainfall. Populations living in the dry zones were described. Health related data were discussed. Typhoid fever, pulmonary tuberculosis, tonsillitis, tracheobronchitis, pneumonia, intercostal neuralgia, acute rheumatoid arthritis, alcoholic tremens, and warts were the most frequently reported illnesses among the inhabitants of the region. Occasional outbreaks of influenza, anthrax, brucellosis, mange, pediculosis, and bacterial dysentary also occurred. The human geography of the dry zones was described. The inhabitants consumed primarily vegetarian diets supplemented by pork and salt cod. The major crops were feathergrass, vetch, beans, carob, chick peas, lentils, and grains. Wine and olive oil were produced and sheep and goats were bred. The organization of farm work was discussed. The usual workday began at sunrise and ended at sunset. Herbicides were used. Although tractors and mechanical harvesters were used, some work such as weeding onions, harvesting grapes, and picking olives had to be done manually. The physiological aspects of farm work were discussed. Precise data on energy expenditures by farm workers in the dry zone were not available; however, data from other sources indicated that farm labor is generally very energy intensive, consuming large numbers of calories relative to those used by basal metabolism. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Energy Metabolism Environmental Health Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  NIOSH-Grant; Grants-other; Agriculture; Agricultural-workers; Climatic-conditions; Agricultural-products; Occupational-health; Energy-metabolism; Disease-incidence; Environmental-factors; Geophysics
• Publisher:
  International Association of Agricultural Medicine
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  Iowa ; OSHA Region 7 ; OSHA Region 8 ; Utah
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  256-272
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00185396
• Citation:
  Proceedings of the VII International Congress of Rural Medicine, September 17-21, Salt Lake City, Utah. International Association of Agricultural Medicine, 1978 Sep; :256-272
• Contact Point Address:
  Prev Med & Environmental Hlth University of Iowa Inst/agric Med & Environ Hlth Iowa Oakdale, Iowa 52319
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1978
• NORA Priority Area:
  Other Occupational Concerns ; Grants Other
• Performing Organization:
  University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  19770201
• Source Full Name:
  Proceedings of the VII International Congress of Rural Medicine, September 17-21, Salt Lake City, Utah
• End Date:
  19800229
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7dc847c09aedf140bc731323e8446b4703641ae07d6ad9e7b7238120dab30b8f7dcaa9b938d34d035f87873a0fe7fec262d5d13dcaf290925445e82b6de3b57d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/242723/cdc_242723_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 168.02 KB ]