ABSTRACT
Modernization offers the farmer a new set of options in an expanding economy, which offer access to what seem to him to be unlimited goods. In Japan, as in Namhalli, modernization has so far led to the intensive cultivation of relatively small plots of land, which requires a heavy investment of labor and capital and makes possible the support of a relatively large rural population. The Green Revolution, like so many other agricultural revolutions, would be especially favorable to farmers who control large acreages of land. India’s traditional nonindustrial cities had little to offer in exchange for the agricultural goods they obtained from the farmer. Many of the agricultural lands used by Elephant were located in the reserved forest and were subject to constant threats of confiscation. In 1973, drought and widespread crop failure substantially reduced India's agricultural production. In terms of urban ecology, rapid increases in production could lead to a disastrous collapse of grain prices.
