The Environmental and Social Costs of Improvement 47developing a high input system in a remote and dryland region would have been
more efficiently used for buying wheat on the world market.
Social change in India
Despite a wealth of studies on the impact of modern agricultural technology on
the rural economy in India, there is no clear consensus as to whether labour oppor-
tunities for men and/or women have increased or decreased (Palmer, 1981; Agar-
wal, 1985; Chand et al, 1985; Whitehead, 1985; Sardamon, 1991; Chaudhri,
1992; Kaul Shah, 1993).
One recent study is now widely cited as evidence that the Green Revolution
can lead to large, across-the-board gains in income, nutrition and standard of liv-
ing for small- and large-scale farmers, and even for the landless poor (Hazell and
Ramasamy, 1991). In North Arcot, Tamil Nadu, between 1974 and 1984, regional
paddy output increased by 57 per cent, and this growth has had significant eco-
nomic impact on the region’s villages and towns. In addition to an increase in the
wage rate, the distribution of income improved and absolute poverty declined.
Small paddy farmers and landless labourers, who were initially among the poorest
households, gained the largest proportional increases in family income, virtually
doubling their real income during the decade. Non-paddy farmers and non-agri-
cultural households increased their real family incomes by 20–50 per cent. As the
authors put it: ‘none of the predictions of the critics – that smaller farmers would
be either unaffected or made worse off by the green revolution and that unneces-
sary mechanization would significantly reduce rural employment, thus worsening
absolute poverty – came true’.
There is, however, considerable evidence that large-scale technological innova-
tions tend to be followed by mechanization of some women’s work (Whitehead,
1985; Palmer, 1981; Billings and Singh, 1970). This change displaces landless
women workers and many of the tasks become ‘male’. But there is also evidence to
indicate that the demand for female agricultural labour can increase as a result of
modernization (Agarwal, 1984, 1985; Chand et al, 1985).
One feature common to most studies on the impact of agricultural moderniza-
tion is that they focus solely on employment, production and income distribution.
Very few have considered the wider changes in livelihood strategies and the quality
of life (Kaul Shah, 1993). But the introduction of technologies does not necessar-
ily have to lead to social disruption. Where external institutions work closely with
local people, then these new technologies can lead to improved welfare for men
and women. A recent review of the activities of AKRSP in Gujarat has shown that
since the introduction of modern varieties, fertilizers and plant protection meas-
ures, coupled with soil and water conservation measures organized on a watershed
management basis, incomes of all households have increased since 1986 as a result
of intensification (Kaul Shah, 1993). Rising agricultural productivity has increased
the demand for local labour and so increased the opportunities for local work. This
has made an enormous difference to the quality of people’s lives. Both men and