GREEN REVOLUTION & LAND REFORMS

Hamna AhmedLecture: 4

Readings

1. Chp: 3 - The Green Revolution & Land Reforms, “Issues in Pakistan Economy”, S. Akbar Zaidi

2. Chp: 11 - Green Revolution, “Contemporary Economic Issues in Pakistan”, Muhammad Aslam

Background

Objective: To study two important events; Green

Revolution and Land Reforms which resulted in the transformation of the agricultural sector

Green Revolution: Refers to the phenomenon of the spectacular

rise in agricultural production (particularly the production of wheat and rice in the late 60’s and early 70’s) as a result of the introduction of HYV’s

Green Revolution

Dismal performance of agriculture in the formative years; 1949-58

Average annual growth rate was 1.43%, less than half of the population growth rate.

Marked change in performance during 60s.

Green Revolution

Decade of 60s: Spectacular growth in agriculture took place in two phases:

FY60-FY64: Average annual grow rate: 3.7% Main cause: Increase in irrigation facilities,

mainly tube-wells B/w FY61 and FY65; 25000 new tube-wells were

installed. Farm area serviced by tube-wells doubled

Green Revolution

FY1965 to FY 70: Average annual growth rate was 6.3% Main cause: irrigation was supplemented with:

1. HYV seeds for wheat and rice2. Chemical fertilizers3. Pesticides

Green revolution was at its peak between FY67-FY68.

Overall: Most important ingredient of the Green Revolution’s technology package was availability of water, as and when required.

Green Revolution

HYV Seeds for Wheat: International Wheat and Maize Improvement

Center established in Mexico in 1943 Developed the dwarf high yielding variety of

wheat, which tripled Mexican wheat production between 1944 and 1967

Wheat acreage under HYV’s, in UDC’s, increased from 10,000 hectares in 1965 to over 17 million in 1973.

Provided impetus for adoption of HYV’s in food deficit countries (e.g. India, Pakistan, Turkey etc.)

Mexi-Pak wheat seed experimented and reproduced across large areas.

Green Revolution

Green Revolution

HYV Seeds for Rice: International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)

founded in Philippines in 1962. Lester Brown discovered the high yielding

miracle dwarf variety of rice, known as IRRI-6

Rice acreage under the HYV, in UDC’s, increased from 49,000 hectares in 1965 to 16 million in 1973

Green revolution a resounding success as far as production, growth and output are concerned;

Wheat production increased by 91% b/w 1960-70

Rice production increased by 141% over the same period.

Production of other crops- not related to HYV seeds also increased because of non-seed factors in the technology package.

Green Revolution in Pakistan

The Green Revolution in Pakistan

The First Plan: accorded low priority to agriculture

2nd Plan: agricultural development accorded a higher priority

1960 – 65: all important food and cash crops (wheat, rice, cotton, sugarcane) recorded meaningful productivity gains

1965 – 70 shows phenomenal growth rates: food grains: 18% p.a. Cotton: 6% Sugarcane: 8%

The Green Revolution in Pakistan

The idea of capitalist farming gains popularity: farmers become receptive to price changes and to the improved seed-fertilizer-water technology package

Rural activity increased, resulting in an unprecedented surge of prosperity

Factors behind the Revolution

Prime vehicles of change: the massive switch over to HYV’s

Consumption of fertilizers: three fold increase from 111.8 thousand tonnes to 381.9 thousand tonnes (1967 – 72)

Area covered by plant protection: 1.7 million spray acres to 4.14 million (1967 – 72)

Tubewells: 58% increase in the area irrigated over the same time span

Tractors: 13,764 in 1968 to 27,329 in 1975.

Factors behind the Revolution

Agricultural Price Policy: Heavy subsidies given on tractors, tube wells,

pesticides and fertilizers: low input policy High output price policy for food and cash crops

to correct the balance in favor of the agricultural sector: support prices raised substantially

Increased credit availability Five fold increase in credit disbursement by

ADBP Commercial banks also start lending more

Impact of the Green Revolution1. Increase in productivity and avoidance of

economic stagnation2. An alternative to Land Reforms3. Direct and Indirect Employment Benefits4. Impact on Income distribution5. Impact on Regional Disparities6. Employment displacing impact7. Effect on people’s diet and nutrition8. Effect on nature.

Increase in productivity

Increases in productivity in various food crops, which helped overcome food crisis in many developing countries

Averted possible famines and large-scale starvation in Asia and Africa

Increased marketable surplus, which was used to meet the increasing demands of urban consumers => avoided economic stagnation

An alternative to Land Reforms

Apart from the revolution, land reforms was the only other way to increase production and reduce rural poverty

Western interests: increased profits of multi-national’s who were doing business in agricultural inputs

Direct and Indirect Employment Benefits Created more jobs for agricultural laborers

Real wages of permanent and casual agricultural labor increased by 2.6% and 2.8% p.a. respectively from 1966 – 73.

Reduced underemployment by providing more employment to village artisans such as carpenters, blacksmiths, potters etc.

Indirect benefits extended to non-rural groups: increased demand of consumption and investment goods by farmers, which are produced in the urban industrial sector.

Impact on Income distribution

Negative influence on income distribution The success of HYV’s depended on optimal and

simultaneous use of fertilizers, water and pesticides

Small farmers did not have resources to purchase these inputs.

Large farmers had easier access to credit, canal water supplies and other extension services

1968: only about 4% of the total tube wells were installed by small farmers (13 acres of land), while 70% were owned by farmers possessing more than 25 acres.

Impact on Regional Disparities The areas selected for experimentation were

the most fertile, most optimally irrigated and most prosperous.

Since new technologies were concentrated in affluent areas, regional disparities were aggravated

Pakistan: Baluchistan and NWFP failed to reap the benefits of modern inputs

Burki: ‘it was the farmers who owned b/w 50 and 100 acres of land, almost all of them in the Punjab, who produced ‘Pakistan’s’ Green Revolution

Employment Displacing Effect

Greater mechanization of the agricultural process => employment displacing

Partly neutralized the employment generating effect

WB-ADBP report: the introduction of a new tractor on average displaced 10 manual workers => 60,000 job lost during 1968 – 72.

Tubewells

Most important ingredient in the technology package was water since the HYV seeds and fertilizer package were critically dependant on it

Tubewells increased from few hundred in 1960 to 75,000 in 1968 and 156,000 in 1975.

Tubewells

Issues: High concentration in rich districts with

91% in 1968 in Punjab Caused interregional disparities to grow

Given size and cost, mainly installed by landowners with over 25 acrs of land

Depended on ability to borrow money

Tractorization

Encouraged by: The provision of cheap credit (though ADBP) Overvalued exchange rate made tractors

cheap Increased productivity

As a result tractors increased from 2,000 in 1959 to 18,909 in 1968

58% in Lahore, Multan and Bhawalpur districts Close link between tubewell and tractor

ownership – 75%

1973 – 77: Green Rev runs out of Steam

Causes:

Deterioration in the quality of seed due to non-rotation of the seed over different regions

Defective pattern of adoption: farmers were handicapped due to financial and management constraints

Water requirement of the new technology not fully met

Water-logging and salinity in the Punjab

Background

Land Reforms: Important mechanism for changing

ownership and wealth patterns. Implies a redistribution of land away from

large landholders to those who are often landless.

Two sets of land reforms have occurred in Pakistan.

Land Reforms

A long history of land reform attempts. Reason for failure:

Landlords was the most significant class in the Muslim League 50% of councilmen in Punjab were large

landlords 60% of councilmen in Sind were large

landlords.

Land Reforms - 1959

Put ceilings on landholdings Small amount of land handed over;

Moreover most was uncultivated land Important feature: resumed land to be sold

to landless tenants Loopholes: intra-family and intra-households

transfers allowed. Effects:

Burki: precursor to the dynamic middle-class farmer

Alavi: maintained hold of the landlord

Land Reforms - 1972

Ceilings further lowered Small amount of land handed over;

Moreover most was uncultivated land Important feature: land resumed would

not receive any compensation and land to be given free to landless tenants

Only 1% of landless benefited from the reforms

Land Reforms

Highly skewed land ownership is the single most retarding factor in agriculture

Land ownership structure has not changed despite land reforms of ’59 and ’72

Land reforms largely neutralized due to transfer of land in favor of relatives, b/c ceilings were fixed per person rather than per family

Land surrendered was largely fallow and barren

Additional land reforms do not seem politically possible at the moment