Agricultural growth and 'trickle-down' reconsidered: evidence from rural India

This paper analyses the legacy of the `green revolution' in rural India, going beyond the economic to take into account the comprehensive impact of State-guided development strategies on the lives of ordinary people. Based on information collected during fieldwork in North India, it aims to provide a more finely differentiated picture of the nature and ramifications of the `green revolution' in the countryside, as well as making suggestions for future policy reform. The first section situates the `green revolution' strategy in the broader political-economic context. The second (and more detailed) part addresses some of the contradictions - the gap between increases in production and growing landlessness and rural poverty - with illustrations from a village case study.