Author(s): B. K. BERA, A. JHA CHAKRABORTY, A. K. NANDI AND A. SARKAR

Abstract: The present study is an attempt to examine the growth and instability in food grains production both at the country as well as state level (West Bengal) for the period ranging from 1950 to 2006 and also to find out the impact of modern crop production practices designated as green revolution technology occurred during mid-sixties on the same. The study revealed that India attained an overall growth rate of area, production and productivity of 284.22, 3028.02 and 22.29 percent and their corresponding instability measured in terms of adjusted co-efficient of variation were accounted to be 2.91, 0.36 and 0.05 percent respectively. The state West Bengal witnessed acceleration at the rate of 29.29, 224.08 and 29.37 percent associated with the variability of 3.14, 01.47 and 1.90 percent respectively at the same order. In spite of experiencing a marginal set back in area under total food grains during post revolution period, production growth rate had become almost doubted in India due to almost two times higher productivity rise compared to pre-revolution period. In West Bengal, food grains production rose by 275.64 percent as a result of combined effect of rise in area and productivity by 13.95 and 39.28 percent respectively which were far ahead of that achieved prior to adoption of new technology. Both the country and state gained more stability in production and productivity front but the fluctuation of above parameters were recorded to be higher at country level in comparison to the state although the state experienced a higher rate of growth. Higher rise in food grains production in India might be attributed to spectacular response of cereals mainly rice and wheat, more specifically wheat, to intensive use of inorganic sources of inputs coupled with the introduction of high yielding varieties and at the state level, it was might be due to outstanding performance of rice and to some extent wheat in the productivity frontier. Status of pulses, another major component of total food grains, remained more or less static in India and in case of West Bengal, area and production registered a negative growth rate in spite of remarkable improvement in productivity i.e. technological revolution in agricultural sector bypassed pulses, although the crops achieved more stability in productivity and production compared with regime of traditional crop production system. The concrete inference as regard to the relationship between growth and instability cannot be established from the present study.

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