Population and Agricultural Growth-A Study in Inter-Regional Variations

A Study in Inter-Regional Variations N Krishnaji P Satya Sekhar The Indian experience of the two decades, 1961-81, offers some scope for analysis of the interrelationships between the components of population growth and the characteristics of agrarian change. A dramatic improve- ment has taken place during this period in technology and productivity in some parts of the country even as other regions have demonstrably stagnated. Did the prosperous regions experience higher rates of population growth, either through higher rates of natural increase or through immigration? What is the demographic picture of areas of stagnation and decline: Are they marked by high rates of mortality and out-migration? One can ask similar questions about the extent to which population pressure has led to land or labour intensification in areas ex- periencing drastic declines in land-man ratio. This paper is concerned with these Questions.