Green Revolutions Reconsidered: The Rural World of Contemporary Punjab

In recent decades developing economies have generally experienced greater inequality and environmental damage with population growth often eating into productivity gains. This volume describes how post-green revolution Punjab constitutes the sole example where: Rising population has not inundated the cities, Agricultural intensification has not degraded the environment, Increasing agricultural productivity has generated real rise in agricultural incomes across the board, A growing rural resource base has steadily upgraded the physical, social and educational infrastructure in the countryside. The book demonstrates that the process of development in Punjab has resulted from long-term policy initiatives and programmes. Thus, instead of a mass movement into a haphazard urban informal sector located in slums, there has been a systematic movement of industry out of the cities. This has created an urban-rural continuum that combines the best of both worlds. Above, all, it has also yielded a ‘greening’of the environment, with increased reforestation and tree coverage".