Resource information
The introduction of green revolution
technologies in wheat, and rice production in Asia, in the
mid 1960s reversed the food crisis, and stimulated rapid
agricultural, and economic growth. But the sustainability of
this intensification strategy is being questioned, in light
of the heavy use of external inputs, and growing evidence of
a slowdown in productivity growth, and degradation of the
resource base. The authors address the critical issue of
long-term productivity, and the sustainability of
Pakistan's irrigated agriculture. To estimate changes
in total factor productivity in four production systems of
Punjab province, they assemble district-level data on 33
crops, 8 livestock products, and 17 input categories. They
find that average annual growth in total factor productivity
was moderately high (1.26 percent) for both crops, and
livestock for the period 1966-94, but observe wide variation
in productivity growth by cropping system. A second,
disaggregated data set on soil, and water quality reveals
significant resource degradation. The authors use the two
data sets to decompose the effects of technical change, and
resource degradation through application of a cost function.
They find that continuous, and widespread resource
degradation (as measured by soil and water quality
variables) has had a significant negative effect on
productivity, especially in the wheat-rice system, where
resource degradation has more than offset the productivity
effects of technological change. Degradation of the health
of the agro-ecosystem was related in part, to modern
technologies, mono-cropping, and mismanagement of water
resources. The results call for urgent analysis of
technology, and options to arrest the degradation of resources.
