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Evaluating 35 Years of Green RevolutionTechnology in Villages of BulandshahrDistrict, Western UP, North India

KATHLEEN BAKER* & SARAH JEWITT***Kings College London, London, UK, **University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK

Final version received July 2005

ABSTRACT This paper analyses the experiences of over 35 years of Green Revolution (GR)technology in villages of the Bulandshahr District, western UP. Fieldwork in three villagesrevealed that perceptions of GR were extremely positive because higher yields brought foodsecurity for all in the area, and financial security for many. Indirect benefits, such as urbandevelopment, have improved employment opportunities which have benefited even the poorest and rural electrification has transformed rural livelihoods, especially for women. Predictably, thebenefits of GR technology are not equally spread: the poorest are better off, but the gap betweenrich and poor is now greater than ever. As gently declining yields are paralleled by growing

populations, farmers are interested in further increasing land productivity.

I. Introduction

The introduction of Green Revolution technology by the US to countries of the

South in the mid 1960s provoked extensive and fierce debate in the international

arena. Was it really possible for new high yielding varieties of wheat, rice and maize

to end centuries of food insecurity? Did the dependence of these crops on costly

inputs put them beyond the reach of the worlds poorest farmers, and were there

other effects of the technology that outweighed the benefits? Controversy on the

impact of the Green Revolution (GR) continued for decades but today the literature

is quieter on the subject, reflecting instead more pressing contemporary concerns

the Gene Revolution, for example (Atkins and Bowler, 2001). While academic

debates may have moved on, the transfer of GR technology has been continuing,

quietly, in many parts of the developing world, and now mature and well-adapted to

new environments, it is central to agriculture in these areas. A reassessment of the

longer-term effects of GR technology is thus timely and the aim of this paper is to

evaluate the experience of 30 years of GR technology in villages of BulandshahrDistrict, Uttar Pradesh (UP), north India.

Correspondence Address: Kathleen Baker, Senior Lecturer in Geography, Department of Geography,

Kings College London, Strand Campus, London WC2R 2LS, UK. Email: [email protected]

Journal of Development Studies,

Vol. 43, No. 2, 312339, February 2007

ISSN 0022-0388 Print/1743-9140 Online/07/020312-28 2007 Taylor & Francis

DOI: 10.1080/00220380601125180


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When India was struck by drought in 196566 approximately 12 million tonnes of

wheat were produced in the country. By 196869, after the HYVs had been

introduced, wheat production jumped to around 16 mn tonnes, and by the early

1980s it was double that of the mid 1960s (Swaminathan, 1996; Kapila and Kapila,

2002). Most of this spectacular increase came initially from a limited area, from the

wheat growing lands of Punjab, Haryana and western UP where irrigation facilities

were well established (Whitcombe, 1972). Since the 1960s Indias indigenous

technological capability has been expanded (Kapila and Kapila, 2002), and HYVs

and their derivatives are more widely grown (Farmer, 1986).

Despite their sustained success in alleviating food shortages, the literature has

often looked harshly on GR technology. Far from bringing about socioeconomic

development, preliminary evidence suggested that GR technology was widening the

gap between rich and poor. The earliest prognoses were most discouraging

(Ladejinsky, 1969; Cleaver, 1972; Chakravarti, 1973; Pearse, 1980; Byres, 1981,

1983), but predictions frequently miss their mark (Glaeser, 1987; Shiva, 1991) and itnow appears that some of the earliest forecasts were premature and to some extent,

speculative (Hayami and Ruttan, 1985; Swaminathan, 1996; Morris and Byerlee,

1998; Atkins and Bowler, 2001). In spite of this, Farmers argument that the GR in

India has increased inter-regional disparities in agricultural production and, as a

consequence prosperity, cannot be ignored (Farmer, 1986). The GR has been of far

greater benefit in some areas than in others.

Detailed follow up studies on the longer-term effects of the GR are relatively few,

but two studies are noteworthy in this respect: the North Arcot Study (Harriss, 1991;

Hazell and Ramasamy, 1991) and the study of East Laguna village in the Philippines(Hayami and Kikuchi, 2000). These suggest that many of the negative predictions

dating back to the 1970s and 1980s have not been borne out; that GR technology

may have been more beneficial than was initially anticipated, that its effects have

been more complex, and that isolating the socioeconomic and environmental

impacts of GR technology has been complicated due to the simultaneous effects of a

range of other location specific factors (Lipton and Longhurst, 1989; Hazell and

Ramaswamy, 1991; Harriss, 1991; Morris and Byerlee, 1998; Hayami and Kikuchi,

2000).

The aim of this paper is to contribute to the literature on the longer-term effectsof the GR technology on rural communities by focusing on the experiences of

three villages in Bulandshahr District, Western UP, North India (Figure 1). These

formed part of a larger study conducted by Baker (1975) in six villages of the

District in 1972, and Bakers study in its turn, was nested in a larger, District level

survey conducted by Allan, also in 1972 (Allan, 1973). Located in the Ganga

Jamuna doab (land between two rivers), this part of western UP with its alluvial

soils is an area of vast agricultural potential and has been well supplied with canal

irrigation since 1857 (Cautley, 1854; Atkinson, 1903; Whitcombe, 1972). As a

consequence, the area was one of the earliest recipients of GR technology through

the High Yielding Varieties Programme in 1966 (Swaminathan, 1996), and the

1972 studies revealed that within seven years of their introduction to the area, high

yielding varieties of wheat had been widely adopted in Bulandshahr District, and

high yielding maize and rice were growing in importance, though more slowly

(Allan, 1973; Baker, 1975).

35 Years of Green Revolution Technology in India 313


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Two of Bakers study villages, Sabdalpur and Kurwal Banaras, were revisited

in 2001 as part of a pilot study to evaluate the longer-term impact of the

Green Revolution in the District, and a third village, Chirchita, was visited in 2003

(Figure 1). Three villages not involved in the 1972 study were also visited in 2001

Nausana, Chola and Nai Basti to ensure that Sabdalpur and Kurwal Banaras were

not significantly different in terms of local livelihood patterns. Our aim is to extend

the study to all six villages surveyed by Baker in 1972 to investigate the nature of

change, and to evaluate, as far as is possible, the longer-term effects of Green

Revolution technology on rural livelihoods. Our recent fieldwork has focused onfour groups of people: the first three were landholders with large and medium sized

holdings (defined below), small landholders and landless people. Women constituted

the fourth group of our enquiry, but limited space in this paper does not allow us to

explore the ways in which GR technology has affected their lives, as far as it can

be disentangled from other factors. We thus confine ourselves to the effects of

GR technology as far as they are discernible on large and medium, and small

landholders, and on landless people.

II. Field Methods in 1972 and in 2001/2003

The substance of this paper is based largely on three periods of fieldwork; the first in

1972, and more recently in 2001 and in 2003. In 1972 most of the information was

derived from questionnaires to 196 farmers; from observation; from the collection of

soil and crop cutting samples, and from secondary source material (Baker, 1975).

Figure 1. Location of study villages in Bulandshahr District, UP

314 K. Baker & S. Jewitt


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The data were collected in as rigorous a manner as possible, and where possible, were

analysed with statistical tests. Although Baker was confident that the results of the

fieldwork in 1972 could have been replicated within the study area, were the study to

have been repeated at that time, she found the approach far from satisfactory as

there was little scope for farmer participation (other than providing answers to the

questionnaires), once the pilot phase was complete. This was very much a study of its

time. Partly because of Bakers frustration and disappointment with the field

methodology used in 1972, and partly because of developments in approaches to

fieldwork both in geography and in development, the post 2000 follow up study has

chosen to adopt a much more informal approach which has encouraged greater

interaction between researchers, farmers and research assistants than did the 1972

study.

Reflecting the success (particularly since the early 1980s) of agrarian ethnogra-

phies in revealing indigenous environmental knowledge in context and insider

perspectives on agrarian change (Brokensha et al., 1980; Chambers, 1983; Richards,1985; Breman, 1985), our aim post 2000 has been to use qualitative methods,

particularly Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) to elucidate the dynamics of

change in the fieldwork area. Our choice of methodology was driven largely by our

own, very positive experience of PRA in the field (Jewitt, 2002a; Baker and

Edmonds, 2004), echoed in a growing literature on the subject deriving from a range

of different disciplines and interests (Chambers, 1994, 1997; Oakley, 1991; Hinton,

1996; Koopman, 1997; Goebel, 1998; Mahiri, 1998; Ira, 2001; World Bank, 2005).

We have found PRA particularly beneficial when participants become deeply

involved in the questions being asked and take on a leading and advisory role in theresearch process. Although the following of such leads was not infallible, PRA

allowed uncertainties to be challenged and disagreements to be aired in an open and

relaxed manner. Such sessions proved to be very valuable for both revealing the

unequal impacts agrarian change on different socioeconomic and gender groups and

for helping to triangulate the information collected.

Informal discussions with key informants and with groups of people in the villages

proved a valuable introduction to the fieldwork. Once we had begun to understand

local perceptions of the current farming scene and of change through Green

Revolution technology and other factors, a variety of participatory methods wereemployed and especially those which involved participants in producing diagrams,

charts and ranked information. Secondary source information has also been used to

supplement our primary data and to assist with triangulation.

Critique of Field Methods

In spite of the attractiveness of a study such as this with a longitudinal component,

the authors are in no way blind to its shortcomings (Menard, 1991; Ruspini, 2000).

The first limitation was the decision by the authors to adopt a radically different

approach to the fieldwork post-2000 from 1972. As a consequence, the results and

analysis take a very different form from the 1972 study which relied heavily on the

statistical analysis of questionnaire data. In our more recent study, results can be

analysed only with the aid of ranked information, diagrams and time lines, all of

which have been carefully confirmed by triangulation. In the authors opinions, lack



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of precision in these data does not in the least diminish their value, quite the

contrary; the reflexive nature of the participatory approach gives the research added

depth. Second, over a period of approximately 30 years one cannot compare like

with like: India has changed; the situation in the study area has changed; the village

people have changed (some 90 per cent of those interviewed in the study villages in

1972 are now dead); the experiences, objectives and approaches to fieldwork by the

researchers have changed, and as a consequence, precise methods of comparison are

seldom possible. A third limitation is that life moves on and variables which are

important now may never have been considered 30 years ago. For example, women

played a relatively small role in managing the new technology in the 1960s but now

they appear to be more involved. A fourth limitation concerns the use of

participatory methods in village studies. While we remain strongly in favour of

their use as a means of data collection, we did encounter some of the difficulties

faced by Mosse (1995) when attempting to use PRA with resource poor villagers.

Conducting PRA with groups of Scheduled Caste villagers required much deter-mination and persistence on our part; not because such villagers were unwilling to

talk to us (although we obviously had to fit in with their busy work schedules) but

because senior members of village society were in constant attendance (possibly)

influencing their responses and urging us to move to other sites. Nevertheless,

participatory methods were considered preferable by the researchers to many other

methods of data collection. Participant observation would, perhaps, have yielded

more detailed information but our time schedule did not permit this and

questionnaires would not permit the rich discussions and enthusiastic mapping/

ranking sessions generated by PRA. In spite of the many inevitable limitations of thedata, we are confident that were we to re-run the studies in all the villages we have

visited, our findings would be much the same. We thus feel justified in presenting

them here.

The paper proceeds by reviewing the main forms of material change in the villages

based on qualitative observation by Baker. Changes in cropping patterns are then

examined to reveal the continued importance of HYVs and having established that

these are now even more important in farm production than they were in 1972, we

seek to assess the relative impacts of GR technology on farmers with larger holdings,

farmers with small holdings, and landless people, both men and women. First,however, observations of change.

III. Qualitative Observations of Change

First impressions of the villages by Baker after 30 years were of astonishing material

improvement. Kurwal Banaras, some 5 km from the centre of Bulandshahr, the

District capital, and Sabdalpur and Chirchita, each about 8 km from the same place

were now much nearer the capital than they were 30 years ago. In 1972, it was a

bumpy bicycle ride along katcha (unmade) roads to each of the study villages but

now they are all linked to Bulandshahr by metalled roads. Vehicular traffic is

plentiful on all roads, and in the villages, but the formerly ubiquitous bullock cart,

once invaluable for transport and traction on the farm is almost totally absent,

replaced by the stronger buffalo. Farm machinery is abundant whereas 30 years ago

it was negligible. Houses are pukka and semi-pukka, brick built, more spacious than



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the ancient huts of the past. The alleyways between the houses are mostly, though

not yet entirely brick paved, built with a camber to ensure that rain and other waste

water runs off into narrow drains on either side. These are a major improvement on

former pathways which were a quagmire in the rainy season and dissected by ruts in

the dry season. Unpleasant smells are also negligible. Open wells are rare and have

been replaced by hand pumps in the majority of dwellings. Electricity cables, sagging

inelegantly, reach almost every house; television aerials are numerous, and there was

one satellite dish in each village. Flowering plants and shrubs in the compounds of

some, though not all houses, reflect care and attention. Gardens were more common

in Kurwal than in Chirchita, which still retains a more traditional rural atmosphere.

Standards of dress are everywhere much higher, very few people are dressed in torn

and ill-fitting clothes as they were 30 years ago, and it was gratifying that the eye

infections and septic wounds so frequently evident on limbs in those days, were

virtually absent. Many more people were wearing prescription spectacles and the

quality of teeth, particularly those of people over 30 years of age looked better thanin the past. All humanity, in all the villages seemed a great deal more healthy and

better fed. First impressions after 30 years were most encouraging and although

subsequent fieldwork revealed that considerable differentiation continued to exist

within the villages, all socioeconomic groups insisted that conditions had improved

for everybody.

Table 1 is a qualitative assessment by Baker of visible change in Sabdalpur,

Kurwal Banaras and Chirchita over the past 30 years. Discussions with everyone

with whom we spoke, both men and women focused at some stage on changes in the

quality of life over the past 30 years and those old enough to remember that far backconfirmed the changes described. When asked to explain the reasons for such

improvements, the answer was always the same: high yielding seeds, and particularly

wheat, adopted in the 1960s had seen the threat of famine abate and subsequently,

higher yields had led to increased wealth and development. This concurred exactly

with Bakers findings in the 1972 study (Baker, 1975). In addition to material

changes, Baker had a strong impression that peoples attitudes and outlook had also

changed since 1972. There was now much more evidence of technical progress and of

participation in the modern world. Although the elders in the village still claimed

and received the respect of the majority, there was nonetheless a feeling that the clearordering of society along caste lines, so evident 30 years ago had perhaps lost a little

of its rigidity. People from different castes sat together for the discussion groups

more readily than they did 35 years ago, and women were prepared to speak to us

now. In 1972 they were not much involved in the Green Revolution and had little to

contribute to discussions on the subject. Today they were more educated and more

vocal, but we had to ask specifically to meet with them as men were always the first

to be involved in participatory discussions. It should be added that Bulandshahr, and

neighbouring doab districts such as Meerut do not typify UP as a whole which is well

below the national average for a range of well-being indicators, a reflection of

government inertia with regard to public provisioning (Dreze and Gazdar, 1996:

100).

It is unlikely, however, that all the material improvements in the study villages can

be attributed to GR technology. Many other factors directly and indirectly related to

the GR have probably also contributed to positive change so, as in Hayami and



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Kikuchis study in the Philippines (2000), and as in Hazell and Ramasamys report

on North Arcot, it is difficult to distinguish the effects of the GR from other factors

on the livelihoods of local people (Hazell and Ramasamy, 1991). The same is

undoubtedly true of western UP where the effects of GR technology cannot be

isolated from a web of other interrelated factors: a sustained programme of research

and development into agriculture alongside the GR (Kapila and Kapila, 2002) has

enabled the latter to prosper in prime agricultural areas such as Bulandshahr, though

not everywhere. In tandem with developments in crop technology, the physical and

institutional infrastructure have been developed by the state government: rural

electrification is now almost complete (personal communication, Agriculture School,

Table 1. Changes common to both Sabdalpur and Kurwal Banaras over a period of 30 years

1972 2001

Population High Noticeably higher, particularlymore children

Quality of buildings Almost all katcha Almost all pukka with the worstsemi-pukka, very few katcha

Lanes/alleys invillage betweenbuildings

Katcha, mud surface,frequently withstanding water

Most pukka brick paths,aesthetically pleasing, lessstanding water

Electricity Absent Electricity since early 1980sWells Numerous None in evidenceDomestic water supply Wells Hand pumps in approx. 70% of

housesHeavy machinery for

land preparation

and harvesting

Limited Plentiful within villages

Draught energy Animal power 80% Animal power 2030%Diesel 20% Electricity/diesel 6070%

Machinery to aid processingof agricultural produce:flour mills/chaff cutters

Rare Accessible to most

Cars/pickups/motorbikes Rare More commonQuality of dress Poor, mostly Indian style Much better quality, designer

fashions evidentEvidence of wealthTVs None 50

Fridges None 20Washing machines None 15Use of LPG for cooking None 40% of householdsTelephones None One per villageEducation Most were uneducated

or had only attendedprimary school for awhile

Over the past 1520 years allchildren (girls and boys) had beento either government or privateschools

Appearance of dwellings Pleasant but simple Many are elaborate and beautifullyconstructed, adorned by plantssuch as bougainvillea to enhance

their appearance. Very few are asbasic as in 1972

Source: Baker and Jewitt fieldwork (2001).



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Bulandshahr, 2001) whereas in 1972 only one of the six study villages had access to

electricity. Availability of irrigation water, fertiliser, insecticide and pesticide and

farm machinery of all types have increased significantly (Kapila and Kapila, 2002).

Thirty years ago these were in short supply, limiting factors on the uptake and

success of HYVs (Baker, 1975). The marketing structure is now more efficient than

it was 30 years ago, and alongside plant breeding programmes, animal breeding

has improved considerably (Kar, 2002).

Government investment in agricultural development, to some extent, has been

driven by the growing strength of the rural lobby. Following protests from the so-

called new farmers movements of the late 1970s and 1980s against attempts by

government to reduce subsidies on agricultural inputs, in particular fertiliser and

fuel, central government has accepted that the influence of the rural lobby cannot be

ignored (Byres, 1981; Brass, 1995; Corbridge and Harriss, 2000). The Bhartiya Kisan

Union (BKU) was active in western UP during the 1980s, and as Byres (1981: 49)

observes, the dominant members of rural society ensured that the benefits of the newagricultural technology were directed towards serving their own interests. This both

supports views in the study villages that it was GR technology that has led to

material success, and suggests that it was the strength of the farming lobby which

played a significant part in determining who the beneficiaries of GR technology

were.

Land reform has been another factor that has brought benefits to some. There

have been several land reforms within UP, part of a wider Indian policy (Das, 2000),

and land ceilings in UP have attempted to limit the accumulation of land by richer,

larger land owners, at the expense of the poor (Das, 2000; Vyas, 2002). There hasbeen some loss of land by some of the largest landholders (below), but the most

significant change is the increasing number of small landholders who are mainly

from the poorest castes and classes. Providing land to the Scheduled Castes (SCs)

and poorer classes in UP has been a focus of activity for the Bahujan Samaj Party,

BSP, whose leader, Mayawati, is the only Dalit (SC) woman to have become chief

minister of any Indian state thus far (Jeffrey and Lerche, 2000). She has introduced

legislation directed at reducing caste based atrocities and discrimination, the result

being that people have been empowered and have more of a sense of honour

(Corbridge and Harriss, 2000; Jeffrey, 2002). A key issue for the Mayawatigovernment is the Ambedkar village scheme launched in Uttar Pradesh during

Ambedkar Centenary year in 199091. Under this scheme, one village in each Block

with a high proportion of SCs is selected for special government assistance which

includes reconstruction of the houses of the poorest, provision of sanitation,

provision of paid labour to construct a better environment, and through land

reform, some redistribution of land (Corbridge and Harriss, 2000).

In recent years, liberalisation accompanying policies of economic stabilisation and

structural adjustment has brought about further change in rural India (Byres, 1998).

Some of the most significant effects of structural adjustment have been the reduction

of state control on marketing of crops, and the reduction of subsidies on agricultural

inputs, in particular fertiliser and fuel. These are undoubtedly affecting socio-

economic development in rural areas and are independent of GR technology.

Numerous factors have thus played a part in influencing socioeconomic conditions

over the past 30 years, nevertheless, when this was put to people in all three



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villages, both men and women insisted that most improvements were linked directly

or indirectly to GR technology. For example, perceptions were that improvements to

infrastructure, particularly rural electrification, had been introduced with irrigation

of HYVs in mind; education had become more affordable as a result of profits from

HYVs, and job opportunities in the District capital, Bulandshahr had increased,

allegedly as a result of the prosperity brought by the HYVs. Jeffrey (2002) reached

similar conclusions in Meerut regarding increased employment opportunities.

Alongside the positive reactions to GR technology there was a widely expressed

fear that livelihood security derived from HYVs could be threatened by the scourge

of uncontrolled population growth. This, it was argued, was causing increased land

fragmentation, and although the Green Revolution is allegedly scale neutral, though

not resource neutral (Rao, 1975), the benefits accruing to small farmers were fewer

than to large farmers. This will be considered after we have explored the current

cropping patterns to identify any major changes since 1972, and to gauge the

importance of HYVs, over 35 years since their introduction to the area.

IV. Changes in Cropping Patterns in Bulandshahrs Study Villages

The farming year consists of two main seasons: the rabi or winter season (October

April), and the kharif or summer monsoon season (JulyOctober). In 1972 wheat,

mainly HYVs, dominated the rabi, while the kharif produced a wider variety of

crops, including maize, rice, millet and lentils. Sugarcane, the growing period of

which extends beyond a single season was also of significance in the cropping pattern

and was in evidence throughout the year. In addition to the two dominant seasons,farmers also took catch crops of melon, tobacco, onions, chillies, beans, gram and

other short duration crops in the zaid, a short season (late March/early AprilJune/

July). The areal extent of zaid crops was limited both at a district level and in the

study villages. Essentially, zaid crops gave flavour and variety to the diet, they were

not usually staples (Baker, 1975). The main change since 1972 has been that the

irrigated area in both the rabi and kharif has been extended and so has the

production of wheat, rice and sugarcane. This is due to the spread of rural

electrification and to the increase in irrigation from boreholes.

Tables 2 and 3 are based on changes in cropping patterns in two of the 1972 studyvillages which have been revisited, Chirchita and Sabdalpur. It has not been possible

to include comparable data from the third village, Kurwal Banaras because some of

these were found to be missing on our return. However, significant changes evident

in the tables for Chirchita and Sabdalpur are that in the rabi wheat production

jumped between the mid 1960s and 1972, the time of the village studies. In Chirchita

wheat increased from 20 to 72 per cent over the same period; in Sabdalpur

comparable change was from 45 to 92 per cent, and in Kurwal Banaras, the area

under wheat increased from 28 per cent to just over 75 per cent (Baker, 1975).

Although there were no official statistics to show which varieties of wheat were

grown, it was shown by Baker that the increased area under wheat was entirely

devoted to HYVs and that this corresponded with a decline in deshi (traditional

variety) cultivation. By 1972 only 16 per cent of the sample area of the study villages

was sown with deshi and after 1982 deshi wheat was no longer grown in the District

(personal communication, R. B. Yadav, 2001).



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Post-2000, fieldwork confirmed that wheat still dominated the rabi in the study

villages. However, discussions in each of the villages as to whether deshi(indigenous)

wheat was grown at all provoked unexpected responses. In Kurwal Banaras farmersasserted that all varieties grown were deshi as they were all produced in India. When

asked whether anyone grew ancient varieties which predated HYVs, the answer was

firmly no, in all the villages visited. These included former study villages and others

visited as a control, to confirm in the minds of the authors that the former study

villages were not significantly different for any reason. Some farmers remembered

that deshi varieties had had an excellent flavour in comparison with the HYVs when

they were first introduced, but the number of varieties currently in use gave farmers

such a choice of characteristics that the deshivarieties to which we were referring had

virtually been forgotten. Breeding programmes over the past 30 years have succeededin widening the genetic base of the HYVs (Kerr and Kolavalli, 1999) and have

produced a diverse array of varieties. From these, farmers now make their selection

according to a whole range of criteria which include: yield capacity; length of

maturation period; marketability; straw yield (related to length of stalk and of

importance for fodder); resistance to pests and disease, and flavour. With such

indigenous developments in crop breeding, perhaps these ought to be referred to as

modern varieties, MVs, rather than HYVs.

In Chirchita the village pradhan (leader) confirmed that 95 per cent of the area

currently sown in the rabi was under wheat and all of it HYVs. The picture was

similar in Sabdalpur in that the area under wheat had increased since 1972, but

informants in PRA discussion groups were keen to demonstrate that there was

considerable variation between the cropping strategies of large, medium and small

farmers. The definition of these was provided by farmers in both Sabdalpur and

Chirchita and was as follows: small farmers cultivated less than three acres (1.22 ha);

Table 2. Changes in cropping patterns in Chirchita village

196566* 197172* 2003**

Per cent area sown

Main Rabi cropsWheat 20 72 95Wheat another crop 33 1 Barley 22 17 Pulses 14 7 Other crops 11 3 Berseem (fodder) 5Total 100 100 100

Main Kharif cropsRice 12 39 50Maize 25 17 25

Millets (mainly jowar) 14 14 25Lentils 6 5 Sugarcane 42 25 51Total 100 100 100

Sources: *Derived from Baker (1975), Figures 5.5 and 5.6; **Baker and Jewitt fieldwork (2001,2003).



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medium farmers 310 acres (1.224.01 ha) and larger farmers, 1018 acres (4.01

7.35 ha). 18 acres (7.35 ha) was the ceiling imposed by the state for irrigated land,

but there were indications that some of the largest farmers were cultivating areasfar in excess of this. In Sabdalpur large and medium farmers now sowed less than

half their land with wheat, investing more heavily in sugarcane, a major cash crop

(Table 3). For both large and medium farmers a combination of wheat and

sugarcane occupied two-thirds to some 90 per cent of the land they cultivated during

the rabi. By contrast, small farmers sowed all their land with wheat, most of which

was consumed. Cash income for small farmers was largely obtained from selling

their labour rather than their crops. A notable change evident in the tables is the

decline in intercropped wheat, in pulses, and in the range of rabi crops. In none of

the three villages was the crop diversity as great, nor was the spread of crops as even

as it had been in 196566. Thus the advent of HYVs of wheat to the study villages

suggest a contraction in the range of crops cultivated, and from the data collected in

Sabdalpur, it was evident that small farmers had a narrower cropping base than their

larger counterparts. This is of particular significance as the majority of farmers have

holdings of three acres and below.

Table 3. Changes in cropping patterns of farmers with large, medium and smallholdings inSabdalpur village

196566* 197172*200103**

Large200103**

Medium

200103**Small (area

farmed)

Per cent Area sown

Main rabi cropsSugarcane 55 20 Wheat 45 92 38 40 100Wheat another

crop8 4 Wheat in scane

ratoon 5Barley 10 4Berseem (fodder) 5 Potatoes

and others

2

Oil seed mustard

20

Pulses 26 (masoor) 20 Other 11 Total 100 100 100 100 100

Main kharif cropsSugarcane 47 35 60 55 Rice 3 4 35 40 100Millet (jowar

for fodder)18 21 5 2

Maize 25 35 3 Pulses 6 3 Other 1 2 Total 100 100 100 100 100

Sources: *Baker (1975); **Baker and Jewitt fieldwork (2001, 2003).



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The kharif also reflects changes in both villages (Tables 2 and 3). Rice has

increased in importance in each village and is sown to about half the cultivated area

in Chirchita. If aggregated, the Sabdalpur statistics are similar, but broken down

they reveal that larger farmers sow 35 per cent of their kharif fields to rice, medium

farmers, 40 per cent, and small farmers, 100 per cent. Changes in the area sown with

rice reflect several factors: first, the increased capacity for irrigation in both villages.

This is also true of Kurwal Banaras. The second factor which is not entirely visible

from the data is the relative importance of rice and maize. According to the farmers

the dominance of rice is relatively recent, and stems from the release of Pusa

Basmati. First released by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) in

1989, Pusa Basmati 1 is a conventional pure line variety developed from hybridi-

sation and it was this strain that farmers were growing. Pusa Basmati 1 has now been

superseded by Pusa Rice Hybrid-10 (RH-10) which has the capacity to yield up to

seven tonnes of paddy per hectare, well in excess of the 44.5 tonne per ha capability

of Pusa 1 (The Hindu Business Line, 2001). The potential for yields to increase furtherthus exists. Formerly, maize was more important in all six villages visited but global

factors in the form of increasing international demand for Basmati-type rice, coupled

with newly developed varieties has seen production soar. It is more profitable to

grow rice these days than maize.

The relative importance of sugarcane and rice to the large and small farmers of

Sabdalpur is also worth mentioning (Table 3). The larger farmers sow a higher

proportion of their fields to sugarcane than to rice, though the absolute area under

rice is usually greater than that sown by small farmers. However, small farmers grew

virtually no cane at all post 2000, rice being sold and used for subsistence purposes.In Chirchita the picture was slightly different (Table 2). Here very few people at all

grew sugarcane, the reason being that the cane factory took up to a year to pay for

the harvest, so farmers preferred to grow and sell rice. The entire village had stopped

growing cane in 1984. However, news that the cane factory was allegedly settling

accounts more speedily these days had prompted a few farmers to experiment with

sugarcane once more. Millet, or jowar is grown for animal feed, and here again, it

was clear from the Sabdalpur data that larger, rather than smaller farmers were

growing fodder crops. Overall, the diversity of crops grown in the kharifstill exceeds

that in the rabi, but diversity is lower than it was 30 years ago. More land is nowsown to fewer crop types in both rabiand kharif. Farmers in all villages lamented the

reduction in production of pulses, and particularly gram. Land formerly sown with

pulses was now cultivated with either wheat, rice, maize or sugarcane and people

noted a deterioration in the quality of their diet, and of their physical strength, with

the loss of peas, beans and gram. Only a very small proportion of the cultivated area

was now sown to these.

V. Evaluating the Impact of 30 Years of Green Revolution Technology

The 1972 study showed that the adoption and successful management of HYVs,

particularly wheat, was very closely linked to caste and class (Baker, 1975). This bore

some similarities to the work of Harriss (1982), who explained the structuring of

society along caste lines in North Arcot. Not all farmers in Bakers study area were

Hindu, some were Muslim and so the term class or social status is appropriate for



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non-Hindus. The fieldwork from 1972 concluded that the earliest adopters were the

highest caste/class, most influential farmers, that it was they who had the best access

to resources such as money, seed of good quality, fertiliser and irrigation water, and

it was they who generally had access to the largest areas of farm land. While all

castes did adopt the HYVs, nevertheless, it was access to resources which was critical

in determining which were the lead groups. In Sabdalpur, Rajputs and Muslims were

the first to adopt. This is one of the few villages where, in 1972, there were Muslims

of high social status, most of whom were large land holders. Poorer Muslim-Rajputs

or Mewati Muslims1 (Ahmad, 2004) in Sabdalpur, and lower caste Hindus had also

adopted HYVs of wheat, though slightly later, only a year or so after the largest,

richest farmers. However, the area sown to HYVs by those slower to adopt was

small, inevitably constrained by the size of their holdings. In Kurwal Banaras the

pattern is similar. Rajputs were the innovators in the 1960s and well behind these

were the Mewati Muslims and Chamars. The picture was similar in all the study

villages (Baker, 1975).Although the statistics from different years cited in Tables 2 and 3 are not directly

comparable, they highlight that HYVs are even more important in the study villages,

particularly in the kharif, than they were in 1972. Following the virtual completion of

rural electrification in the District there has been a vast increase in the number of

electric tube wells and hence in the irrigated area of HYVs in both the rabi and

kharif. The message given clearly by all to whom we spoke was that with the increase

in food production, no one went to bed hungry any more, not even the poor, and

that GR technology was the source of this security.

The doubling and trebling of HYV yields compared with those of traditional deshivarieties were the main reasons for the adoption of HYVs of wheat in the 1960s and

1970s (Baker, 1975). Farmers spoke of wheat yields having increased steadily for

around 15 years after the adoption of HYVs, but since the 1980s there was

agreement within the discussion groups, and deep concern, that there had been no

real improvement in yields. These findings are confirmed in All-India statistics which

have shown an increase in wheat yields from around 1100 kg per hectare in 196768,

to 2,4002,500 kg per ha in the 1990s when the increase levelled off (Kapila and

Kapila, 2002). Furthermore, where farmers were not able to obtain good seed, yields

had declined, in some cases by as much as 10 per cent. Comparing responsesobtained post 2000 with those from 1972 (Table 4), it would seem that there has been

a significant increase in yield over the past 30 years for farmers large and small. In

1972, the most progressive farmers, the top 15 per cent, harvested over 4,000 kg per

hectare, whereas now the most progressive achieve yields nearer 5,000 kg per

hectare. Average yields had also risen from around 3,400 to 4,000 kg per ha and even

the lowest yields, at around 2,000 kg per hectare were now double what they were

30 years ago and in line with average yields of 3,600 kg per hectare for the state

(Jagran Research Centre, 2002).

Yields may have increased significantly and food shortage is not the worry it was

some 40 years ago, but as the GR was introduced into a situation of significant

socioeconomic inequalities, its benefits have not been equally distributed. This was

true 30 years ago (Baker, 1975) and it was our aim to see who were the main

beneficiaries of the technology and who were not. As a consequence, the field work

focused on three groups of people: first, farmers with large and medium sized



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holdings, over three acres; second, small farmers who cultivated less than threeacres; third, landless people, both men and women. Although the 1972 study in

Bulandshahr villages showed that higher caste, richer farmers had better access to

resources and were more successful in cultivation of GR crops, it did not find that

anyone in the study area had been disadvantaged by GR technology (Baker, 1975).

Our aim was therefore to discover who were large and who were small farmers. Were

these the same castes/classes as farmers 30 years ago, or had they changed? And as

the success of GR crops is much influenced by access to resources, we then focused

on access to two principal inputs, that of irrigation water and inorganic fertiliser for

farmers cultivating large and small plots of land.

VI. Large and Small Farmers Access to Resources

Holding Size and its Relationship with Caste, Class and Power

If we begin by looking at access to land it is clear that the distribution of land is now

more positively skewed than it was in 1972. In Sabdalpur, average plot sizes were

threefour acres in 2001, approximately half the size of 30 years ago when the

average size of holdings of the sample group of farmers was 8.74 acres (3.54 ha)(Baker, 1975). A similar picture of declining holding size was found at Kurwal

Banaras, Chola, Nausana, Nai Basti, and is evident at national level. According to

the National Sample Survey (cited in Vyas, 2002) over 60 per cent of Indias farmers

were classified as marginal in 199293, and were cultivating 0.012.49 acres. The field

data revealed a similar picture. In all the villages visited over half the holdings were

classified by the farmers as small, being less than three acres. In Sabdalpur and

Kurwal Banaras the majority of households cultivated between 1.0 and 1.5 acres.

This was also the case in Chirchita where PRA with a group of farmers involving the

pradhan provided more detailed information regarding changes in holding size and

the number of families involved in cultivation (Table 5).

While it is almost certainly correct that holding size is now more positively skewed

than it was 30 years ago, there is also evidence in certain villages, particularly

where descendants of former zamindars are to be found, that some of the larger

farmers had ways and means of avoiding the constraints of the land ceiling. Dreze

Table 4. Comparing wheat and rice yields in 1972 and post-2000

1972 200103

(kg/ha)

Wheat yields Progressive/large farmers 4,0005,000 5,0006,000Average yields 3,000 4,000Lowest yields 1,000 2,000

Rice yields Progressive/large farmers 3,400 5,000(with soil improvement)

Average yields 3,200 3,0003,800

Sources: 1972 data derived from Baker (1975); 200103 data based on fieldwork by Baker andJewitt (2001, 2003).



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and Gazdar (1996) assert that after Independence the UP government made

inadequate attempts to put land ceilings into effect, and that as a consequence, therewere more loopholes in the law in UP than in other states. These loopholes have

enabled former landlords to retain holdings of a significant size, though fieldwork

suggested that the prices paid in social favours to their village communities were

considerable, in order that the true size of their land holdings remained undetected

by the authorities.

Returning to the Green Revolution, predictions in the 1970s that the rich would

continue to get richer by buying up land from the poor, who could not afford

essential inputs for their HYVs on a sustained basis, has not happened in UP, due

largely to the 18 acre (7.35 ha) land ceiling established in 1996. At this time, farmerswith more than 18 acres were obliged to surrender any excess, and a few farmers in

the villages lost land through this scheme. Land which had been surrendered,

together with all land designated as spare in the villages was distributed to the

Scheduled Castes and disadvantaged people in keeping with the Indian Constitu-

tions commitment to social and economic justice (Corbridge and Harriss, 2000). As

a result, the numbers of different caste groups/classes who owned land had increased,

and most of these were from among the poorest Hindus and Muslims. Table 6 shows

the proportions of the major caste/class groups in Chirchita and Sabdalpur in 1972

and in 2003. The decline in the number of Rajputs and Jats is evident, as is theincreasing proportion of lower castes and/or Muslims.

Patterns of land ownership have changed significantly since the 1972 study. At this

time power in the study villages lay very clearly with Brahmins and Rajputs, higher

caste Hindu farmers, and in some villages, with wealthier Muslims. These powerful

farmers also had the largest land holdings. The fieldwork revealed that over the past

30 years many of the dominant Hindus, particularly the Rajputs and Jats had sold

their land after profiting from the GR and moved to Bulandshahr or other urban

areas. According to Jeffrey (2002: 213) working in nearby Meerut, fragmentation

encouraged the Jats to seek off-farm income, especially salaried employment in the

public sector. In the study villages former Rajput and Jat land had been acquired by

Muslims and by the lower and Scheduled Castes such as the Jatavs and Balmiki or

Chamars who are now numerically dominant among the Hindu farmers in

Sabdalpur, Chirchita and Kurwal Banaras. The fieldwork thus confirmed that there

had been no increased concentration of land in the hands of the richest, nor that

Table 5. Changes in number of families and holding size in Chirchita, 19722003

Holding size(acres)

1972No. of

families1972

(% total)

2003No. of

families2003

(% total)

Total 125 100 550 100Landless 15 12 50 951 acre 36 29 150 912.5 37 29 320 582.65.0 12 10 28 545.0 acres 25/26 20 2 51

Source: Baker and Jewitt fieldwork (2003).



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small landholders had suffered significant losses of land in any of the six villagesvisited. This is echoed by Hazell and Ramasamy (1991) and by Harriss (1991) in

North Arcot, South India. In some cases in the study villages small parcels of land

had been acquired by the poorer members of society through purchase; through

government schemes which allocate land to the poorest and most disadvantaged, and

through a combination of these. Our findings thus contrast with those of Mukherjee

(2002) who casts doubt on the extent to which the poorest can and do acquire land.

Whether these smallest landholders are benefiting from land ownership is debatable.

Ray (2002) argues that agrarian reorganisation has not significantly improved the

socioeconomic conditions of the working farmer in India but in spite of this everyone

wished to be a landowner and derived confidence and pride from doing so. The

relative position of large and small landholders and landless people is considered

below.

Post-2000, the number of landholders in the study villages had increased. 50 per

cent of farming families in Sabdalpur are Muslim, and 50 per cent are Hindu, while

Table 6. Changes in the proportion of different Hindu caste groups and Muslims in Sabdalpurand Chirchita villages over 30 years

Caste

SABDALPUR1972: based

on recall

by localfarmers atthat time

(%)

SABDALPUR

2001: basedon PRA

discussions(%)

CHIRCHITA1972: based

on recall bylocal farmersat that time

(%)

CHIRCHITA

2003: basedon PRA

discussions(%)

Brahmin 5 51Rajput 50 5 (sold land and

migrated tourban areas)

Jat 1520 10 (soldland and

migrated tourban areas)

Harijan/SC 45 30 14Including: (details of all SCs

not provided)Kore (10)Gosai (7)Jatav (20) (25) (11)Dhobi (1) (1.5) (1.5)Balmiki/

Chamars

(sweepers)

(3) (3.5) (1.5)

*Mewati-Muslims/Muslim-Rajputs

51 5

Muslims 30 50 50 70

Source: Baker and Jewitt fieldwork (2003).Note: *See Endnote 1 regarding Mewati-Muslims/Muslim-Rajputs.



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in Chirchita 75 per cent are Muslim, including Mewati Muslims, and 25 per cent are

Hindu (Table 6). This represents a significant change from 1972. The most influential

members of both villages were still the wealthy Muslims and the few remaining

Brahmin, Rajput and Jat families, and observation confirmed their dominant

position. However, it was emphasised in both Sabdalpur and Chirchita that although

Muslims were numerous, they did not necessarily command the greatest proportion

of resources. Poorer Muslims (and poorer Hindus) rarely practised birth control and

as a result their numbers were increasing rapidly, their holdings, frequently less than

one acre were too small to support large families, and large families exacerbated land

fragmentation. This was confirmed through participatory discussions with both rich

and poor, although concern amongst wealthy villagers seemed to be rooted primarily

in resentment over the recent redistribution of small land parcels from rich to poor

households. Survival for the poorest Muslim families and for their Hindu

counterparts, now depends on supplementing subsistence production with earnings

from off-farm and non-farm employment by as many family members as possible.The proportion of landless was estimated at 30 to 40 per cent in each of the villages

and although the Pradhans confirmed that the proportion of SCs (Hindus) among

the landless had declined relative to Muslims, (due to preferences for large families

amongst the latter), in absolute terms the numbers of both these groups had

increased significantly. It is worth mentioning that the proportion of SCs in the

study villages was far higher than the proportion for India as a whole. Having

shown that there are many more small farmers in the villages visited than medium

and large farmers, we now examine resource accessibility by farmers with large and

smallholdings.

Availability of and Access to Irrigation Water

An adequate supply of water is arguably the most critical of all inputs for HYVs and

in the early days of GR technology, access to irrigation water was the principal

constraint on the adoption of HYVs. However, availability of irrigation water has

improved substantially since 1972 with the increased number of tube wells and some

expansion of the canal system. Increasing pressure from the farmers lobby has

contributed to this (Dreze and Gazdar, 1996; Corbridge and Harriss, 2000). It isdifficult to demonstrate from official statistics the extent of this change over the past

30 years as the District boundary has changed. Part of the former Bulandshahr

District has been lost to the newly formed Gautam Bodh Nagar District. Albeit not

directly comparable, the statistics show that tube wells in the District now irrigate

around a quarter of a million hectares (Jagran Research Centre, 2002), compared

with about 150,000 hectares in a larger district area in 1971 (Bulletin of Agricultural

Statistics for UP, cited in Baker, 1975). Thus the increased capacity for irrigation

apparent in the study villages is also confirmed at district and state level, and reflects

heavy investment in increasing irrigation capacity, and particularly the utilisation of

groundwater (Vaidyanathan, 1994).

While the availability of irrigation water might have increased, the benefits are far

from evenly spread and, usually, irrigation water is more expensive for the poor than

for the rich. Tube well water is more expensive than canal water in spite of the

subsidy on electricity (Gulati and Sharma, 2002) and this is a major burden for



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smaller farmers, especially where their land is distant from canals and where they

have no option but to depend on tube well water for irrigation of their HVYs. The

government does offer some help with the cost of tube well installation but if the

initial subsidised tube well does not function properly for any reason, for example

the bore has not been appropriately positioned, or the pump set has failed, the

farmers are given no further help (personal communication, village Pradhans).

Farmers who, for whatever reason, had access to neither canal water, nor owned a

pump set, but had to depend on tube wells owned by other farmers were invariably

the smallest, poorest farmers. Most of these applied less than optimal quantities of

irrigation water. It was no surprise that they harvested lower yields than those who

had access to their own pump sets and tube wells, or to canal water. Table 7 shows

the comparative cost of water for those who had access to canals or owned their own

tube wells, and those who did not. This was based on participatory discussions in

Sabdalpur, Chirchita and Nai Basti, and the data speak for themselves.

Access to and Use of Fertiliser

In 1972, fertiliser and irrigation water were both in limited supply. Soil samples

collected from the fields of farmers in the 1972 study were tested for their soil organic

carbon content in order to assess the quantity of urea, calcium ammonium nitrate

(CAN) or other fertilisers which should have been applied to the soil. At that time

farmers did have the opportunity to send soil samples to the Indian Agricultural

Research Institute (IARI) in Delhi, but few did so. The results collected by Baker

from the study farmers fields showed that the soil was receiving, on average, 169 kgof urea/ha, far more than was recommended by the Government Package of

Practices for wheat cultivation, but far less than local soil conditions warranted,

Table 7. Comparison of cost of irrigation from canal and from tube well in study villages

Irrigation by canalCost irrigations (any number) dependent on crop Rs 175350/acre(Approx. cost of irrigating sugarcane and rice) (Rs 350/acre)

(Approx. cost of irrigating jowar, pigeon pea and other pulses) (Rs 175/acre)

Irrigation by tube well. For farmers owning a pump set:Cost of each irrigation Rs 125/acreCost of six irrigations Rs 750/acre

. For farmers not owning a pump set (usually smaller/poorer):Cost of purchasing each irrigation Rs 200/acreCost of six irrigations Rs 1200/acre

. Therefore, extra paid by smaller/poorer farmers:Per irrigation Rs 75/acre

Per six irrigation Rs 450/acre

Relative cost of irrigating from tube well rather than canal (approx.)For larger farmers owning pump sets 34 times costlierFor smaller/poorer farmers not owning pump sets 46 times costlier

Source: Baker and Jewitt fieldwork (2001, 2003).



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according to the IARI. Of 196 farmers involved in the sample in 1972, only 28 per

cent used adequate fertiliser, according to the prescriptions of the IARI, and these

were higher caste farmers with larger farms (Baker, 1975).

There are similarities with the situation today. Sabdalpur farmers with large and

medium sized holdings, (over three acres) were applying urea at a rate of 100

125 kg/acre (approx. 250 kg/ha to 310 kg/ha), well above the recommended dose of

84 kg/acre (210 kg/ha). By comparison, small farmers with less than three acres of

land, and many with less than one acre, mostly obtained fertiliser from their richer

neighbours, usually in exchange for work, rather than from a source which

guaranteed good quality of fertiliser. As a consequence, these small farmers had little

choice but to accept whatever fertiliser was given to them by larger farmers. Most

used only one type of fertiliser, NNP, regardless of whether or not it was appropriate

for their soil. These farmers were applying only 7580 per cent of the quantity of

NNP recommended by the current Government Package of Practices (personal

communication, R. B. Yadav, 2001), and this almost certainly contributed to therelatively low yields they harvested in comparison with the larger farmers. These

were the same farmers who were unable to apply sufficient irrigation water to their

crops.

The use of excessive quantities of fertiliser by the larger and medium sized farmers

signals one of the major problems currently facing agriculture in the area, and that is

static and declining yields. Two of many possible explanations for this are first, that

soils may be becoming increasingly sodic, a condition which results in salt deposition

at or near the surface as a result of high levels of moisture in the soil. This frequently

occurs in canal irrigated areas, and particularly near the canals where seepage maybe a problem. There is currently an extensive World Bank project in Uttar Pradesh

involved in the improvement of sodic soils (World Bank Group, 2004), as it is usually

these reclaimed soils which are distributed to new land owners who are

predominantly among the lowest castes/classes. The authors experiences of such

sodic soils suggested that these were not a major problem in the study villages. If

anything, they are less of a problem now than in 1972 due to the development of a

range of soil improvement techniques.

A second, and more likely explanation for declining crop yields in the face of

increasing inputs of inorganic fertiliser is the low level of soil micronutrients, whichin turn may be related to low levels of soil organic matter (Gaur et al., 1984;

Nambiar, 1994, Ghildyal et al., 2002). Farmers were quick to identify the inadequacy

of soil organic matter as a cause of stagnant yields, but measurements taken in these

villages in 1972, compared with recent results of soil analyses conducted by the

Agricultural Development Office in Bulandshahr reveal that the organic fraction

which was approximately 0.7 per cent in 1972, remains much the same. However,

increasing the organic input into the soil could well have positive effects on yield by

increasing the micronutrient status and improving the soil structure. For one or two

large farmers who invested in compost production, wheat yields were over 5,000 kg

per ha, compared with the more usual 34,000 kg per ha or less (Table 4). Resolving

the stagnation in crop yields in the face of a rapidly growing population thus

represents a major challenge to farmers in the doab and in much of India in the

future. There is scope for planting green manures and also for applying animal dung

to the fields but at present, during the dry months virtually all dung produced in the



20/28

villages is mixed with chaff by women, made into dung cakes, dried, and used as fuel.

Any dung cakes surplus to household requirements are sold. This is an important

source of income for many women and especially for those from families with small

plots or of landless families. There is understandable reluctance to lose a viable

source of income although the use of dung on the fields could lead to higher crop

yields, income and sustainability of agriculture. The likelihood of food shortage is

currently viewed as little more than a small, dark cloud on the horizon, but if yields

continue to deteriorate, then pressure to divert organic matter to the soil will almost

certainly increase to remedy the situation.

The potential of organic manures is also important for another reason: fertiliser

has been heavily subsidised in India, and despite attempts by new farmers

movements to prevent the reduction of subsidies, dating back to the late 1970s

and 1980s, liberalisation will require existing subsidies to be phased out. Almost

certainly, the cost of fertiliser to the farmer will increase, and usage could fall. But

this need not spell disaster. A reduction in the use of inorganic fertiliser, if coupledwith organic manure could, in theory, increase crop yields as the organic inputs

could remedy what are believed to be a decline in soil micronutrients. The benefits of

organic manures combined with limited quantities of inorganic fertiliser have been

demonstrated in East Asia, and Taiwanese technical aid missions are currently

promoting such methods in Africa (Baker and Edmonds, 2004).

From the use of two key inputs of water and inorganic fertiliser, it is evident that

small farmers are at a disadvantage in the production of HYVs compared with their

larger counterparts. This difference was also evident with regard to other variables:

most small farmers were unable to afford seed of good quality and depended onlarger farmers for their supplies. This they often paid for with their labour and had

little control over the quality of seed they received, or the price they paid for it in

terms of their time. Furthermore, rarely were these the newest and most high yielding

varieties. Usually, small farmers were not perceived as credit worthy by banks, so

had to pay high levels of interest to richer neighbours in the village in order to

borrow money. Again, the means of repaying debts was through their labour, which

frequently left them short of time on their own fields. For these and many other

reasons, the gap between large and small farmers had widened over the past 30 years,

though as we were frequently reminded, no one in the villages went hungry anymore.

VII. Investigating the Gap between Large and Small Farmers Further

Population growth, not GR technology, emerged as the main factor explaining the

widening income gap between the larger, richer farmers; smaller, poorer farmers, and

the landless, though GR technology and particularly access to HYVs was the reason

for the survival of those with the smallest plots.

Participatory discussions with farmers with larger and smaller plots of land, and

with landless people, resulted in Figure 2 which was drawn in the sand by one group

of participants in Sabdalpur, and which evaluated changes in the proportion of

village wealth owned by each group over the past 30 years. This proved to be a real

example of local people taking over the stick with conviction (Chambers, 1994).

The substance of the diagram was checked with several other groups and Figure 2



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confirmed our expectations that the proportion of wealth controlled by medium and

larger farmers, cultivating over three acres of land, had increased relative to others,

confirming the views of Byres (1981). In 1972 this group owned an estimated 4550

per cent of village wealth, compared with 75 per cent in 2001. Small farmers, those

with holdings of less than three acres owned some 40 per cent of village wealth in

1972 but only about 20 per cent now. The fortunes of small farmers contrasted

notably with the landless. They were still the poorest as a group but while they

owned virtually nothing in 1972, allegedly, they now possessed 1015 per cent of the

wealth of the village. While the position of the landless may look remarkably healthy

from Figure 2, it must be stressed that these benefits have been experienced by only a

small proportion of a growing number of landless people. Most continue their

existence in poverty.

Considerable effort was made during the fieldwork to confirm the information in

this diagram and we were able to do this at Chirchita in 2003 where farmers

produced a diagram which was remarkably similar. And yet, there was conflictinginformation: everyone wanted land, even a tiny farm, despite the alleged declining

Figure 2. Estimated changes in wealth of large and medium farmers, small farmers andlandless people. Source: Field work by the authors, 2001



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financial position of the smallest farmers. It is our intention to pursue this question

further in future fieldwork.

VIII. Green Revolution Technology and the Landless

Informal discussions were held with members of the Scheduled Castes (SCs), and

also with landless families in all three villages. It was difficult to get close to the

poorest, but we were particularly successful in conducting informal discussions

and PRA with both men and women from the Balmiki in Chirchita. The Balmiki

are a sweeper caste and are socially one of the lowest groups among the SCs.

Initially, some of the participants were reluctant to talk to us but they became

more relaxed with time. The men were much more prepared to talk than the

women who were shy and inhibited at first, but even their confidence grew as

they became involved in PRA sessions. Were it not for the persistence of our

Indian agronomist partner, Dr R. B. Yadav, this element of the study might havebeen forsaken.

The quality of life for the Balmiki is clearly poorer than that of other groups in the

village, including other SC groups. They were shabbier in appearance, their clothing

was poor; the children looked dirty, unkempt, and frequently wore the minimum of

clothing; eye complaints and skin sores were more in evidence than elsewhere in the

village and the general appearance of this group was reminiscent of village people 30

years ago. Most lived in katcha houses at present; few had their own hand pump for

water and most used the communal government hand pump near their houses. But

improvements are taking place: being an Ambedkar village pukka and semi-pukkahouses are now being built for the SCs; mud paths to their houses are being paved

with brick; the communal hand pump has replaced an open well quite recently, and

rudimentary sanitation is being installed. In December 2003, 40 per cent of the work

for the Ambedkar project has been completed in Chirchita and further fieldwork a

year later confirmed that progress was being made. But this is not to say that the

environment of the Scheduled Castes was being raised to the same standards as

higher caste people in the village. A marked difference still existed, but advances were

being made.

With regard to material possessions among the group of around 25 Balmiki whomwe met in Chirchita there was one television, four radios, everyone who worked in

Bulandshahr owned a bicycle, and all families kept poultry and goats as most had

little space for larger animals. None of the households possessed a sewing machine;

none of the women could knit, sew or crochet, and no one had gas on which to cook.

None of the Balmiki to whom we spoke, either men or women, had received formal

education. Opportunities were available for the education of SC children, and for

those parents who registered their children in full time education they were eligible

for a subsidy of Rs 340 for each child placed in school, and a supplement of 34 kg of

grain (personal communication, Chirchita pradhan, 2003). In spite of this, several

Balmiki women chose not to send their children to school. Their relative material

poverty in the village was glaringly apparent.

Regardless of their poverty, all members of the Scheduled Castes to whom we

spoke, including the Balmiki were emphatic that GR technology had benefited

everyone, even the SCs. Increased agricultural production as a result of the HYVs



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had been followed by growth and prosperity, and increasing job opportunities,

particularly in the District capital, Bulandshahr, which was easily accessible from

the study villages. However, most of employment opportunities open to the

Balmiki were for men who pulled cycle rickshaws, or who were sweepers and

labourers in hotels, banks and offices. None of the Balmiki to whom we spoke

were employed as agricultural labour in the village. The benefits to be had from

working in Bulandshahr were clearly greater. Those members of other SCs who

were employed as agricultural labour in the villages confirmed that increased

mechanisation had seen a decline in demand for labour for some tasks such as

ploughing, but an increase in labour demand for tasks such as weeding and seed

sorting. Village wage rates had also increased as a result of rising cost of urban

wage labour and the brunt of this was mostly borne by the largest farmers who

could afford hired labour. That HYVs have probably increased labour demand is

the conclusion reached by Jeffrey (2002) in Meerut, Singh (1993) in North Bihar,

and Harriss (1982, 1991) in North Arcot, though in the case of the latter this islargely because the use of tractors and mechanical threshers had not increased to

the point where labour were displaced, and also because the area under HYVs of

rice had increased.

Opportunities for Balmiki women in Bulandshahr were fewer and most worked

as sweepers and cleaners of latrines in Chirchita and the neighbouring villages.

Traditionally, they would head load excrement from the households to the field

and they continued to do this although the government had banned head-loading

of such material. Where households possessed a rudimentary cesspit or septic

tank their task was made easier, but where there was none, they had noalternative but to head load the excrement. Some were outspoken in their

loathing for this work, wishing that they could escape from rural drudgery as

many of their employers had done. Each Balmiki woman acted as sweeper for

approximately 10 houses. For this the rate of pay was currently 20 kg of wheat

every six months, equivalent to approx. Rs 125 per 180 days, or less than Rs 1

per day. However, their wages had doubled in the past decade as the increased

cost of labour in urban areas had pushed up rural wage rates. They used to be

paid 10 kg of wheat every six months; half the current rate. Among other SC

groups of higher status than the Balmiki, both men and women foundemployment in sugarcane processing factories, in the countless brick making

plants and in the construction industry. Increased non-farm employment

opportunities meant that the poorest could earn enough money, and no one

was starving or short of food. Wage labour, we were told by landless women had

risen from Rs 5 per day in the 1970s to Rs 30 per day in 1990 and Rs 60 per day

now (without accounting for inflation). These were well in advance of wages paid

to Balmiki women who worked as sweepers in the villages. Living costs had risen

as well, but all agreed to having more disposable income.

In addition to paid employment, some landless women reared female buffalo

calves for sale to larger farmers. These they fed on weeds gathered from the fields

and also on the residues from the sugarcane harvest. They were entitled to the latter

as long as they harvested the cane for no cost to the owner. There is an irony about

this as the cane producers are usually the largest, richest farmers. Some landless men

were also involved in selling milk and keeping buffaloes through the batai2 system.



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This was not evident from the Balmikis material possessions but PRA revealed that

much of the increased income was spent not on material goods, but on celebrations

and festivals.

To conclude this section, it would appear that the quality of life for SCs has

improved because of increased employment opportunities in Bulandshahr and its

environs. It is likely that the growth of agricultural productivity resulting from the

introduction of HYVs has contributed to the growth of Bulandshahr, but other

factors may also have played a part, not least the inclusion of the study villages in the

Ambedkar scheme. Whatever the reasons, SCs are apparently better off than they

were; the poorest among them, the Balmiki, claim to have enough not to be hungry,

though their material assets are still meagre in comparison with those of their higher

caste neighbours.

IX. ConclusionsThe fieldwork left the authors in no doubt that the material progress, so plain to

see in the study villages over the past 30 years, had been set in train by the

adoption of GR technology in the mid to late 1960s. HYVs had averted hunger

and famine which was threatening at that time, and subsequent increases in crop

yields, and the increase in the area under these crops had added to livelihood

security. However, the benefits from GR technology were not equally distributed

and the research revealed a widening gap between rich and poor, even though the

bottom line was encouragingly higher than it used to be. In 1972 the rich tended

to cultivate the largest farms and to have access to a wide range of resources.Today, the same is true, but many of the larger, richer farmers, formerly Brahmins,

Rajputs and some Jats, who had benefited from years of GR technology, had sold

their farms, taken their profits and moved away to urban areas. Their land had not

been absorbed by the remaining large farmers on account of the land ceiling.

Instead, it had been acquired by lower caste Hindu farmers and by poorer Muslims

who now dominated farming in terms of numbers in the study villages. As a

consequence there had been a significant change in the social structure of the

villages since 1972.

The landless had also benefited from GR technology: the growth of Bulandshahrhad stimulated the non-farm economy and had seen demand for labour rise. As a

consequence, employment opportunities for both men and women had increased, as

had wage rates. Despite these positive changes many of the poorest castes/classes still

lived in poverty, but it was asserted that no one went to bed hungry any more. The

dozens of people to whom we spoke in the villages were unwavering in their view

that advances in material well being had been driven by little other than the HYVs,

accompanied by their input packages. Nevertheless, as in North Arcot, (Harriss,

1991; Hazell and Ramasamy, 1991) and in Laguna village in the Philippines (Hayami

and Kikuchi, 2000), it was evident that many other factors ranging from local to

global had reinforced the socioeconomic improvements triggered by the introduction

of HYVs over 35 years ago.

Two remaining points must be made: first, these findings are specific to the

three study villages, and we can also claim them for the other villages visited

within the vicinity of Bulandshahr. We cannot extend our conclusions beyond the



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study area, but it must be emphasised that for much of India, GR technology still

remains inaccessible. The second point is that although we have focused on the

benefits of GR technology, the fieldwork revealed an awareness among the farming

communities of problems linked to the sustained use of the technology. These must be

mentioned though space does not allow their discussion in full. We have already

mentioned declining crop yields in the face of increasing inputs of fertiliser, a situation

which could probably be reversed by careful soil management, not least by increasing

the organic fraction (Sanchez, 1976; Beets, 1990). High also on the list of perceived

negative effects of GR technology were increases in formerly unknown ailments such

as stress, strokes, heart disease and mystery illnesses, particularly of children. These

were attributed to the poisoning of water supplies by overuse of chemical fertilisers,

insecticides and pesticides. More research is necessary, however, to establish the

validity of such perceived links.

Overall, the benefits of the Green Revolution were perceived in all six villages

to far outweigh any negative effects. There was, however, an awareness thatcontinued population increase could threaten food security in the future as crop

production had reached a plateau. Biotechnology could provide a solution to

declining agricultural production, but if this approach still raises too many

questions and concerns (Shiva, 2002), then an East Asian alternative which

focuses on the abiotic rather than biotic components of the agroecosystem might

be preferable. This would involve raising the level of soil organic matter, and

hence fertility through heavy composting (Baker and Edmonds, 2004). Although

laborious for the farmer, this would be feasible and could prove ecologically

sound, cheap, and sustainable. It might also extend further the benefits conferredby 35 years of GR technology.

Acknowledegments

The authors wish to acknowledge the significant contribution made to the research

by numerous people, and to thank them for their generous assistance and kindness.

We particularly thank our research assistant, close associate and friend, Dr R. B.

Yadav, Assistant Professor of Agronomy, Sri Vallab Bhai University, Meerut for so

generously sharing his wealth of knowledge about the study area; for his goodhumour and his tireless commitment to the fieldwork. Thanks are also due to the

people in all the villages visited who participated so willingly in the fieldwork. We

would wish to thank especially the people of Sabdalpur, Chirchita and Kurwal

Banaras for their time, their kindness and good humour and the warmth of their

welcome after a gap of some 30 years. We are also indebted to Mr M. P. Singh,

Deputy Director, Extension, The Agricultural School, Bulandshahr, for his generous

help in the early stages of our work.

Notes

1. Muslim Rajputs, otherwise known as Mewati Muslims were descended from Meos, Rajput tribes living

in Mewat, a Gantgetic plateau in northern India. These Meos converted to Islam in twelfth and

thirteenth centuries. At that time they retained many of the socio-religious practices from their Hindu

past. Many kept their old Hindu names, worshipped Hindu deities, celebrated Hindu festivals and



26/28

based birth, marriage and death rituals on Hindu customs. Islamisation of Mewati Muslims was

brought about by the teachings and work of Mawlana Ilyas in the Mewati region in the 1920s (Ahmad,

2004). Some still refer to themselves as Muslim-Rajputs or Mewati-Muslims.

2. Batai system: This is a form of partnership between rich and poor, in buffalo ownership and

maintenance. Buffaloes are extremely valuable while lactating, but once the milk supply dwindles they

can be costly to maintain. At this stage, poorer households owning buffaloes may give their animals

into the care of a wealthier farmer until the animals calve. When a calf is born, the poorer farmer pays a

pre-agreed sum to the richer farmer who has fed the buffalo for several months, and the poorer farmer

takes the adult animal back as it is again lactating. The calf remains with the richer farmer. The system

enables the poor to own productive animals and to shelve most of the cost of maintaining them in that

part of the year when they are not productive.

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