Burdwan, in West Bengal, a densely-populated and relatively prosperous area of Eastern India, was chosen for the first of a series of detailed analyses of the socio-economic effects of the so-called ‘green revolution’ of the past decade. The new technology has put a premium on land. Expenditure on fertilizers, tractors and tubewells has ‘increased dramatically’. Medium to large farmers’ efficiency and incomes have improved but benefits have been distributed less than equitably.
