"العراق والخليج الفارسي" [ظ‎‎٢‎٨‎٩] (٨٦٢/٥٨١)

446 IRRIGATION, AGRICULTURE, AND MINOR INDUSTRY
Ideally the landowner corresponds to the farmer in English parlance
and the sarkal to the hind or bailiff, except that neither is expected by
Arab convention to work physically on his land. That is the duty of
the share-cropping fellah. The weakness of the system is that, though
the fellah has a smallholder’s interest in the actual land, he has no
security of tenure beyond a single season and no incentive to improve
the land, and hence tends to be satisfied with a subsistence level of
existence. This insecurity of tenure is mitigated when the landlord
is a tribal shaikh, because his tenants are his fellow tribesmen and
custom forbids him to terminate the tenancy of a tribesman except
for obvious neglect of a tenant’s duties. The advantage of the system
is that, in a land liable to natural catastrophes, the fellah’s taxes and
rent (the landowner’s share) are proportionate to his losses in a bad
year as well as to his gains in a good year, so that he should escape the
burden of arrears and may receive capital assistance from his landlord.
Where lands have been divided directly among tribesmen they have
tended to surrender them to their shaikhs for this very reason.
The produce of the land is divided between four parties: the land-
owner, the sarkal, the fellah, and the Government. Only the Govern
ment’s share is fixed by law and consists of a water rate levied on
lands irrigated by flow, a State rent on Luzma and simple Miri lands,
and a tax levied on the produce of all forms of land and paid in cash.
The water tax is levied on lands irrigated by flow and varies from
5 to 10 per cent. State rents on Luzma or simple Miri lands vary
from 1 to 5 per cent, according to the character of the land, its
irrigation facilities, and the proximity of markets; before 1936 they
were sometimes as high as 10 per cent. The tax on produce was
fixed at 10 per cent, until 1932, but the methods of assessment
varied amazingly; then it was replaced by a similar tax on the sale
and export of produce, excluding what was consumed at home or
used for seed (p. 484). The total government share in produce thus
varies from under 10 per cent, (sales tax only) on lands in private
possession (Mulk or Tapu) to between 11 and 25 per cent, on lease
hold and rented lands; before 1936 the latter figure rose as high as
30 per cent, for the best irrigated land.
After the government dues have been set aside the remainder of
the produce is divided between fellah, sarkal, and landowner. The
proportion received by each varies according to the quality and also
the legal category of the land, and according to the contribution
towards expenses made by the three parties. The fellah usually
receives not less than a third and not more than a half of the total