Regional Distribution of Agricultural Incomes in Pakistan : An Intertemporal Analysis

Abstract

The stagnant agriculture sector of the Fifties was transformed into a dynamic one in Pakistan by the technological breakthroughs made in the early Sixties. The installation of private tube wells, introduction of high-yielding varieties (HYVs) for various crops, the rising use of chemical fertilizers and insecticides and the mechanization of tillage operations have ensured growth rates of agricultural output unknown in the Indo- Pakistan subcontinent. Although the desirability of these technological changes in terms of growth cannot be doubted, it was argued in many studies that the technology would likely lead to increasing rural income disparities in Pakistan thus thwarting the desired impact of growth on economic development (AlaVi (1976); Falcon (1970); Gotsch (1976); Gotsch (1976a): Griffin (1974); and Hamid (i974))