Community and agriculture in two Indian villages

This study attempts to relate village community structure to agricultural development. Two villages in Uttar Pradesh, India, which differ significantly in their level of agricultural development, are compared in terms of caste, leadership and attitudinal structures. The basic assumptions of the study are as follows: village differences in agricultural development cannot be adequately explained by confining the analysis to the data directly related to agriculture the community structure of a village influences its agricultural as well as other types of agricultural development; and caste, leadership, and attitude are the three important structural characteristics of a village which affect its level of technological development.
Although with increasing modernization the institutional structures in a village are gradually becoming differentiated from the comprehensive framework of caste, the caste structure and the related patterns of land ownership and land use in a village still influence its level of agricultural development. The important research question of this study is : What type of caste structure is most conducive to agricultural development in a village 2
The leadership structure of a village can influence its level of agricultural development in several ways. An effective and well-recognized leadership group in a village can induce and persuade the farmers to utilize the resources which the leaders mobilize from external sources. Contact with external sources and the selective mobilization of resources available from these sources are two crucial measures of effective leader ship. A well recognized leadership structure also has an important generalizing influence on the community, which helps the community to act in a coordinated fashion in effecting technological change and development in the village and in maintaining its structural
integrity at the same time. The attitude structure of a village community reflects its structural potential for technological development. The evaluative attitudes of the community residents toward their own community are the most direct and discriminating measures of a community's structure and potential for development.
Community and Agriculture in Two Indian Villages is a penetrating analysis of the interplay among the caste, leadership and attitude structures in influencing the level of agricultural development of two village communities. The findings of this study not only have theoretical importance but also have significant practical implications.