Small Cultivators in Bihar and 'New' Technology

After the introduction of the new economic policy in 1991, the cost of cultivation has jumped due to increase in input prices. Small producers resort to marketing the 'distress surplus', and increasing costs of cultivation render them more dependent on large landowners for high-interest loans. The author's findings suggest that in a scenario of unequal distribution of land and resources, the embrace of new technology by small cultivators, far from leading to greater 'income diffusion', deepens their dependence on those with economic, social and political power.