Consumption Linkages of Mechanical Wheat Production in Pakistan

Abstract

In many developing countries like Pakistan, most research work on farm mechanisation has focused especially on farm labour displacement and income effects. These studies measure only the micro or direct effect of mechanisation on a specific farm unit, area or locality. They lack macro level impact of technologies that emerge from lin~ages between farm and non-farm sectors and between farm and the household: The importance of these production anq consumption linkages in agricultural growth has been emphasised [Hazel and Roell (1983); Mellor and Lele (1973); Mellor (1976); Yotopoulos and Nugent (1976)]. The growth linkages between farm and non-farm economy are primarily due to increases in household consumption expenditures. Increases in household consumption expenditure is directly related to escalation in income. Leontiefs (1951, 1966) inpu-output system provides a framework measure the overall effect of farm mechanisation employment an income. King and Byerlee (1977) measured links between changes income distribution and its effect on employment. Rangarajan (1982); Hazel an Roell (1983) showed that agricultural growth has substantial effects on other sectors economy. Ahammed and Herdt (1983 1985) also used the input-output system. The present study is basically an adoption of Ahammed and Herdt's (1983) model. A system of linear homogenous equations which permits solutions by simple matrix inversion operations hsa been used.