Economic Implications of the "Green Re¬volution" and the Strategy of Agricultural Development in West Pakistan

The short-stemmed varieties of wheat and rice imported fromabroad and the increased use of fertilizers have dramatically enlargedthe potential for rapid increases in the agricultural output of WestPakistan. This recent break¬through in foodgrains production issometimes referred to as the "green revolu¬tion". Because of thegenerally favourable conditions in West Pakistan in regard to irrigationwater and solar energy, and due to the unusually favour¬able weather in1967/68 in particular, the "green revolution" is spreading most rapidly.It is high time to focus our attention on some of the economicimplica¬tions of the new developments in agriculture. Recentagricultural growth in West Pakistan has been the result ofim¬provements in the production relationship in the agricultural sector.However, the relationship between land and man in agriculture and thatbetween agricul¬tural production and other economic activities tend tobe neglected in the current discussions of the ways in which the countrymay sustain the recent growth per¬formance.