紀要論文

Long-term Agricultural Growth and Crop Shifts in India and Pakistan

eng

09111247

https://doi.org/10.15002/00001973

20

19

35

2006-03

Version of Record

Based on a production dataset that corresponds to the current borders of India and Pakistan for the period c.1900-2000 and a district-level dataset from West Punjab for a similar period, this paper investigates the performance of agriculture in these regions. The growth records of agricultural production and shifts in crop mix indices show that changes in aggregate land productivity can be associated structurally with inter-crop and inter-district reallocations of land use. In the studied regions, cropping patterns of subsistence agriculture changed substantially, with a rising concentration of crop acreage in districts with higher productivity and shifts to more lucrative crops. These changes reflected comparative advantage and contributed to the improvement of aggregate land productivity. The crop concentration indices were at their highest levels in the early 2000s both in India and in Pakistan, showing the effects of agricultural liberalization policies and farmers’ response to these policies.

Article

AA10459262