Understanding Green Revolutions
Agrarian Change and Development Planning in South Asia

This book is a critical examination of the truth behind the stereotype that there is a Green Revolution in agricultural technology.

Tim Bayliss-Smith (Edited by), Sudhir Wanmali (Edited by)

9780521109123, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 18 June 2009

400 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.2 cm, 0.59 kg

Peasant societies in the Third World have undergone changes that are often regarded as sweeping and unparalleled; rapid population growth, progressive integration into the market economy and a Green Revolution in agricultural technology. This book is a critical examination of the truth behind these stereotypes. Twenty-one specialists in the field of development studies look at the reality of agrarian change, either through historical analysis, or through in-depth village field-work, or from their experience as development planners. The first four chapters provide the historical context of agrarian change in India, Latin America and pre-industrial Europe. These are followed by eight detailed case studies of the impact of the green Revolution at village level in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The book finishes with six analysis of the effectiveness of government policies designed to intervene in the development process in South Asia and in East Africa. The contributors to this book share a commitment to an interdisciplinary approach to the study of development problems.

Preface Sir Joseph Hutchinson
Part I. Understanding Green Revolutions: An Overview: 1. The agricultural revolution in Western Europe David B. Grigg
2. Land reform as a pre-condition for Green Revolution in Latin America Clifford T. Smith
3. Frogs and farmers: the Green Revolution in India, and its murky past Christopher J. Baker
4. Agrarian change and the Merchant State in Tamil Nadu Barbara Harriss
Part II. Agrarian Change at Village Level: 5. Agrarian policy and agrarian change in tribal India Stuart Corbridge
6. Migration and agrarian change in Garhwal district, Uttar Pradesh William Whittaker
7. Agricultural development in Tamil Nadu: two decades of land use change at village level Robert W. Bradnock
8. Energy flows and agrarian change in Karnataka: the Green Revolution at micro-scale Tim P. Bayliss-Smith
9. Income and wealth disparities in a land settlement of the Sri Lanka dry zone Vidyuamali Samarasinghe and S. W. R. de A. Samarasinghe
10. Agrarian structure and agricultural innovation in Bangladesh: Panimara village, Dhaka district Steve Jones
11. A structural analysis of two farms in Bangladesh Graham P. Chapman
Part III. Development Planning and Agrarian Change: 12. Rural-based models for rural development: the Indian experience Sudhir Wanmali
13. Planning and agrarian change in East Africa: appropriate and inappropriate models for land settlement scenes Deryke G. R. Belshaw
14. Metropolitan expansion in India: spatial dynamics and rural transformation K. V. Sundaram and V. L. S. Prakasa Rao
15. Green Revolution and water demand: irrigation and ground water in Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu C. M. Madduma Bandara
16. Social organisation and irrigation: ideology, planning and practice in Sri Lanka's settlement schemes John C. Harriss
17. Environmental hazard and coastal reclamation: problems and prospects in Bangladesh David R. Studdart and John S. Pethick
18. Beyond the Green Revolution: a selective essay Robert Chambers
Index.

Subject Areas: Human geography [RGC]