Capital goods technology and Agrarian development in the developing countries

Abstract

Agriculture and Technology in Developing Countries: India and Nigeria, by Sumit Roy. London; Newbury Park, CA; New Delhi: Sage Publications, 1990. Pp. 223. £27.50. ISBN 0 8039 9 662 4 (US); 81 7036 206 7 (India)

Diffusion of Agricultural Innovation in Village India, by Satadal Das‐gupta. New Delhi: Wiley, 1989. Pp. xi + 193. Rs 150. ISBN 81 224 0126 0

Two books are considered in this review article: one on India and Nigeria, by Sumit Roy, and the other on India, by Satadal Dasgupta. It is argued that the strategy of agricultural development based on imported technology may solve some problems in the short run, but that a long‐term expansion of production can only take place within an integrated national economy supplied by domestic capital goods and technology‐generating sectors. Policies of import substitution for intermediate goods integrate developing countries agriculture into the international economy dominated by the industrialised countries thus impeding a higher accumulation of capital and creating structural stasis characterised by slow industrialisation, agricultural stagnation and increasing external dependency. Developing countries need to give priority to the development of capital goods and machine‐building industries to increase their productive capacity.