The Framework

An understanding of technology development and diffusion can contribute to the identification of some of the basic forces operating in a society. The interest of economists in this development of technology lies in its importance as an indicator of economic growth. Historically, technological progress has varied over time and space: the capacity of different societies to generate, adapt and disseminate appropriate technical innovations has shown considerable variation. The reasons for these differences reflect the socio-economic structure of these societies.

Most people in developing countries live in rural areas and work in agriculture. In India, after three decades of planning for socio-economic development, 76 per cent of the population lives in villages; agriculture accounts for about 42 per cent of the national income and provides a livelihood for more than 67 per cent of the population (India, Planning Commission, 1981; India, Registrar General, 1982). Rural development and the improvement of the low level of agricultural productivity have, therefore, been priority concerns of Indian planners since 1950. Development and diffusion of agricultural technology has been an important source of agricultural growth. Many studies have analysed the diffusion of agricultural technology and its impact on output, yield, employment and income distribution. There are, however, very few studies on the diffusion of agro-mechanical technology (Feder et al., 1982). Moreover, the available studies mostly concentrate on relatively expensive equipment such as tractors, threshers, oil engines and electric motors. Much less has been said about simpler and less expensive equipment whose contribution to agriculture may not be as visible but is still important, both in terms of lessening the drudgery of work and higher labour efficiency. Besides, the viability of mechanization can be questioned on many grounds in a country such as India where the majority of land holdings are small, 67 per cent of rural households owning less than one hectare of land (NSSO, 1986).

The agro-machinery used on various farms differs across regions in accordance with the nature of cultivation. Broadly speaking, there are two sources of farm-power: tractor-based agro-machinery and bullock- or man-based. In a given context, larger holdings use different sets of agro-machinery and, therefore, different types of farm power, than smaller ones. The ownership pattern of tractors and tractor-based equipment is heavily in favour of the large holdings. 1 The picture is similar in the case of electric motors and diesel engines (Dasgupta, 1977, Chapter 2). The growth of tractor-hiring facilities enables some of the smaller farmers to use tractors on rent, yet small farmers (with less than two hectares of land) are unable to make use of the facilities on any significant scale (Sharan and Krishna, 1976; Patel, 1980). Much of the same imbalance will naturally be seen in agro-machinery and equipment that is linked to the tractor as a power unit. Also, the system of hiring farm machinery, such as tractors and harvesters, has given rise to a new type of patron-client dependency between poor and rich farmers (Dasgupta, 1977, p.379).

There have been serious R&D efforts to develop small tractors. However, some technical problems make it difficult to develop a low horsepower tractor that would be sturdy and efficient and also affordable to small and marginal farmers. Besides, tractors are in fact not suitable in all conditions: bullocks perform better than tractors on clay soils, in ploughing comers and in isolated patches of highland. Moreover, tractors do not usually displace bullock labour. It has been found that tractor farms continue to keep at least one pair of bullocks (Dasgupta, 1977, pp. 108-9; Raj, 1974, p. 123). Thus, tractor-hire schemes notwithstanding, tractor-based agro-machinery remains limited to upper segments of the peasantry. The marginal and small farmers, who constitute a large proportion of the total cultivator population, rely mainly on bullock/man-operated implements. In fact, it has been shown that in the near future, available farm power will be dominated by manual and draft power; the tractor population, on the other hand, is small and only a modest increase is expected in the coming years (India, National Commission on Agriculture (NCA), 1976, Part X, Chapter 50). Furthermore, the impact of machines such as tractors, threshers, electric motors and diesel engines is similar to that of seed fertilizer technology. If these services are available only to a limited set of cultivators, the biases of seed fertilizer technology become a policy concern. The other major concern has been that mechanization may reduce employment. There is, however, no consensus regarding the impact of the use of above-mentioned machines on yields, output and employment (Binswanger, 1978; Basant, 1985).

Large scale co-operation, consolidation of small holdings, socialization and reorganization of land into holdings of optimal size can overcome structural constraints and pave the way for more rapid mechanization. It has been argued, however, that small farms which constitute a large chunk of the peasantry will continue to remain a very important part of the agricultural scene in India (Vyas, 1976; Joshi 1979). It is imperative, therefore, to think of ways in which technological upgrading of agro-machinery on bullock-operated farms can be accomplished. It is noteworthy in this context that some of the improved hand-operated and animal-drawn implements can be five to ten times more efficient in energy conversion as compared to primitive tools and implements commonly used by farmers (India, NCA, 1976, p.393). It has also been pointed out that improved implements can greatly accelerate bullock ploughing (Marsden, 1973, p. 7). It is in this context that the present study attempts to analyse the processes of agro-mechanical technology diffusion in a backward region (Panchmahal district of Gujarat State).

Focus of the study

Development and diffusion of agro-mechanical technology characterized by improved hand- and bullock-operated implements, therefore, is an important area of research. Few studies have, however, focused on this theme (for a detailed review see Feder et al., 1982). The present study is an attempt in the direction of understanding the constraints on the diffusion of agro-mechanical technology. The relevance of the study in the present context is brought out by an awareness that historically successful agricultural growth in different countries has capitalized on favourable production factors, e.g. land and mechanization in the US; labour and land improvements and biological technology in Japan. European countries also stressed biological technology before emphasis shifted to mechanical technology (Binswanger, 1984). Further, to rely mainly on mechanization for output growth may be misplaced since...