Land Agglomeration under Changing Technology: Some Inferences from Pakistan

Abstract

The paper studies the intertemporal trend of land distribution with a view to checking the legitimacy of the thesis that land distribution deteriorated under the Green Revolution in Pakistan by examining the arguments given in support of this thesis. The empirical evidence cited in this study indicates that land distribution in Pakistan either improved (as from 1960 to 1972) or remained unchanged (as between 1972 and 1980). This trend in land distribution serves to show that technological changes were accompanied by significant improvements in land distribution between 1960 and 1980. Large increases in the ownership area of small farmers between 1972 and 1980 vis-a-vis the decreases in the ownership area of large farmers during the same period render untenable the view that Green Revolution led to a worsening of land distribution because of land purchases by large farmers. Substantial gains in the operational area of large farmers, due either to large areas of land rented in or to increased self-cultivation, appear to be unlikely in view of the continued and rising dependence of those farmers on tenants. Favourable changes in the distribution of ownership and operational holdings seem to be the result of the widespread impact of Green Revolution on the profitability of agriculture, growing labour'scarcities, land reforms, inheritance laws, and the general trends in the economic development of Pakistan.