Technological change and disitribution of gains in Indian agriculture

This work is an attempt to understand the emerging pattern of income distribution in the process of agricultural growth in India during the recent period which is charac terised by technological changes such as the use of High Yielding Varieties of seeds, tractorisation, etc. According to the author, agricultural policy has been directed to the solution of the problems of shortage of foodgrains and rising prices, mainly through technological changes and the concentration of resources, e.g. fertilisers in the developed irrigated pockets and large farms which have a better resource position. As a result, the supply of labour in the high-growth pockets has been lag ging behind the demand, despite some immigration of labour. It should not be surprising, therefore, that tractorisation in these areas has been associated with an increase in output and employment. How ever, as the author suggests, the right question to ask is whether productivity and employment and social benefit-cost ratio would not have been greater for a similar investment in alternative tech niques such as irrigation and the spread of high-yielding seeds and fertilisers among the small farms as well as the less-devel oped regions.

The study reveals that technological changes as such have contributed to the widening of the income-disparities between (1) different regions, (2) small and large farms and (3) landowners on the one hand. and tenants and agricultural labourers on the other. In absolute terms, however, the gains from technological change have been shared by all sections. According to the author, the biggest prospects for in creasing output and generating employ ment in the next two to three decades. (with wider application of known techno logy such as high yielding seeds and fertilizers) and for improving the distribu tion of income-horizontally as well as vertically-lies in public investment in irrigation and the exploitation of ground water.