Livestock Farming in Indian Agrarian Change: Does it Benefit the Poor?

Abstract

Based on 13 field studies, this paper provides an integrated interpretation of India’s Green and White Revolutions. Livestock farming, which used to play a key role for cultivation, has been marginalized by irrigation. Large landowners with access to water have tended to abandon livestock and focus on irrigated crops for which they hire labourers. Smallholders and landless labourers are, for their part, massively involved in livestock farming. However, dairy farming generates income that is all the lower as access to resources is limited. Hence, the White Revolution has not proved an effective way out of poverty, but combined with the Green Revolution, it has allowed agricultural productivity to increase, thus limiting rural exodus, without deeply transforming land distribution.