This article in Wikipedia gives some definitions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasonal_human_migration

 Seasonal migration is a form of return migration. It is driven by seasonal peaks in labor demand, mostly in agriculture. But some people change their location because of climate - this is not labor migration.

This article gives more information about different types of migration, including seasonal: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/09/g68/migrationguidestudent.pdf

In contrary to permanet or temporary migration, seasonal means the population movement according to either wet or dry season or before and after main agricultural planting or harvesting time. This is very common in andean rural communities

Amongst other factors, in Brazil we use the migrant statement about having more than one house, and about which one is the reference house he/she considers the most important. In that case, he/she will most certanly change/ be not sure about the place used to pass the "seasonal" period, but he/she will know for sure which is the "main" or the "permanent" house.

Dear Prof.Nitin Bajirao Borse,

I found some articles with the keyword "seasonal migration". I hope that you can find some views on seasonal migration in these files.

Best regards,

Hiep from Vietnam.

For the Europeans it would mean waiting for August for going out for their summer holidays to some other country!

Thanks George for different angle of seasonal migration but I am working on a area lies in western ghat (Mountain) in Maharashtra state, India. It is block level study. 96 % population of this area is consider as a tribal population. Their main occupation is agriculture. India receives rain from june to Sept. So these people engage in agriculture in 5 months of a year and afterwords they have no employment or means of livelihood. 1 , 2,  family members or whole family move to agriculturally developed  area or Nashik city. this is very common phenomena. 

Thanks for your query, Professor Borse.  Seasonal migration in our part of the world (Oceania) is movement that links with distinct peaks in labour demand, usually in the horticulture and viticulture industries or in the tourist industry.  Where the labour demand is in Australia or New Zealand, some of the seasonal labour demand is met from international sources, either through special seasonal work schemes such as Australia's Seasonal Worker Program, or New Zealand's Recongnised Seasonal Employer scheme, or through the Working Holiday Visa Programmes both countries have with many other countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

To give one example: New Zealand's Recognised Seasonal Employer Scheme brings in around 9,000 workers, mainly from Pacific Island countries, for periods of up to 7 months (or 9 months in the case of the two atoll countries of Kiribati and Tuvalu).  The seasonal work visas are special-purpose ones in the sense that their holders cannot transition to other types of temporary work or permanent residence visas while working as seasonal employees.

The great bulk of seasonal migration in Australia and New Zealand is, however, internal, involving people seeking temporary work for short periods -- students, retired people (the "grey gypsies" as they are sometimes referred to), unemployed people as well as people who prefer to work for only part of the year.

I hope these remarks are useful.

Best wishes, Richard

Emeritus Professor Richard Bedford, Unievrsity of Waikato

Seasonal migration is often caused by a decrease of employment in agriculture during the dry season (case of the Sahelian zone in Africa, for example); in this case migrants may seek additional income in the city and return to the village at the period of cultures, during the rainy season. This movement is sometimes slowed down, as in the deltaic zones of South-East Asia, where the farmer’s families have often access to additional jobs of urban type, consisting in industrial zones located in rural area or in home work disseminated by major companies located in the city.

On the contrary, seasonal migration can also be caused by the need for additional labour in rural areas at harvest time (case of grape-harvest or fruit trees harvest in several parts of the world). One can also find climatic reasons for this migration in seasonally flooded areas, by fishermen led to move according to the seasonal movement of fish or depending on the evolution of seasonal jobs between the sea shore and the mountains, as it is the case in some European countries. Such fluctuations also exist in town; however, they are impeded by the price of housing for migrants to stay easily. Of course, the holiday-related moves are very important in countries in which people take holidays, without omitting the considerable moves performed during the Lunar New Year holidays in China and Vietnam for example.

One can also question the adequacy of the term “seasonal migration” when temporary moves do not result in a change of the main residential place: Would it not be better in this case to speak about “seasonal moves” rather than “seasonal migration”?

Best wishes.

Seasonal migration also termed as temporary migration or cerculation. In India Census not coverd the data related to seasonal migration. even National sample survey (NSS) also not consider the migration if it is for less than 6 months period. But it is in practice.Researcher collected information about seasonal migration through intensive primary surveys.

seasonal migration follows particular patterns that are known and predictable. Agricultursal seasons are examples, but also tourism seasons, when reseorts need extra labour people get emplyed that move for some time to the hotels and resorts.

In India agricultural workers travel from the interior dry regions to the main agricultural at harvesting time, e.g. from Madurai region to the Cauvery. In Rajsthan pastoralists used to take their animals to neighbouring states during the dry season. Today these movements are much more difficult as permanent agriculture makes it very difficult to accommodate these animals, which earlier brough organic manure to the fields.

Prof. Nitin Bajirao Borse The concept of seasonal migration has been defined differently by various scholars in the socio-cultural context of their nations. But one can have a definition of his own specifically for the purpose of using it in a particular research. I am doing research on seasonal migration in western part of Odisha, India. For my research I have defined seasonal migrant as "The person who has stayed away from the village for the purpose of employment for at least one month and not more than eight months during one year preceding the survey."

Seasonal migration has a common definition in population studies: its the movement of population from their place of origin after and before planting and harvesting activities, before and after planting and harvesting seasons to job target places. This targets commonly are mining centers, agricultural plantations large or medium size cities. Major reason is to obtain family extra incomes.. After the temporary labour, people return to their places of origin.

Seasonal migration can also be linked to movement from urban areas to rural areas and back during festive season.