Punjab's “Green Revolution” and Social Polarisation

Abstract

The "green revolution" which transformed Punjab agriculture in the late 1960s and early '70s stands as one of the most remarkable cases of rapid agricultural development of our times. Here, the use of sophisticated agricultural technology led, in the short space of a decade, to dramatic increases in food grain production. Farmers able to adopt the new capital-intensive methods of cultivation soon enjoyed a previously unknown prosperity. For many observers, these developments signalled an important breakthrough in solving the pressing economic problems of the poor nations. Distressingly, it is now clear that the "green revolution" also gave rise to a marked polarisation in the distribution of income in the rural sector and, concommitantly, to increased social differentiation and conflict. While production of wheat, the state's main crop, more than doubled between 1965 and 1973, during the same period a growing proportion of the rural population fell below a statistical "poverty line" defined in terms of requirements for minimum calorific intake. In fact, for the vast majority of the rural population, economic growth (contrary to planner's expectations) did not spell an amelioration in the conditions of life, but on the contrary, led to a general deterioration. Corresponding to these economic changes, important new processes of political and ideological polarisation between social groups have also emerged. This thesis examines, from a synthetical perspective conjoining the insights of the anthropologist, the historian, the geographer and the economist, the background, development, and implications of the current transformation of Punjab society. It is argued that the perspective formulated by French "structural-Marxist" anthropologists and an articulationist school of development theorists offers a useful paradigm for the analysis of capitalist development in the peripheral economies. From this viewpoint, the geography and history of the Punjab are examined to distinguish structural preconditions for the unique transformation now taking place. In the analysis which follows the focal role of the region's dominant Jat Sikh population receives particular emphasis. The larger landholders within this group, it is suggested, now form and economic élite contrasting with the majority of the population. In theoretical terms, the analysis concludes that capitalist infrastructural development has resulted in the formation of polarised social classes. Such classes, distinguishable, perhaps most importantly, in terms of diverging political and ideological orientations (as well as by economic rôle), will find themselves increasingly at odds. It is the development of the conflict between them which will determine the future direction of Punjab society.