Economic Implications of the ‘Green Revolution’ and the Strategy of Agricultural Development in West Pakistan

Abstract

The short-stemmed varieties of wheat and rice imported from abroad and the increased use of fertilizers have dramatically enlarged the potential for rapid increases in the agricultural output of West Pakistan. This recent breakthrough in food-grains production is sometimes referred to as the ‘green revolution’. Because of the generally favourable conditions in West Pakistan in regard to irrigation water and solar energy, and of the unusually favourable weather in 1967/8 in particular, the ‘green revolution’ is spreading very rapidly. It is high time to focus our attention on some of the economic implications of the new developments in agriculture.

An extended version of this chapter was first published in the Pakistan Development Review, summer 1969. The author wishes to thank Bruce F. Johnston and Frank C. Child for many valuable suggestions during the course of this study. He is also grateful to Robert D. Havener and Jerry B. Eckert of the Ford Foundation.