The acquisition of agricultural technology: Its determinants and effects

Abstract

The central theme of this paper is that the causes of changes in inequality lie only partly in the nature of innovations, and that to understand the mechanism producing such changes one must place the innovation process in the context of the prevailing economic and social system. After a general treatment of technical change, the precise nature of the ‘Green Revolution’ crop technology and its diffusion are described in detail. Against this background, the core of the paper is devoted to analysing the mechanism whereby such technical change alters the pattern of inequality among broadly defined interest groups. Finally, there is a speculative appraisal of the longer term consequences of the ‘Green Revolution’ for the economic and social organization of South Asian agriculture.

Notes

Fellow of the Institute of Development Studies. I have gained much from discussing an earlier draft of this paper with Leonard Joy. I am indebted also to Charles Cooper for many pertinent comments and suggestions. Errors of analysis and perception are mine alone, however.