ABSTRACT
The major change was, of course, the transformation of the irrigation system. The step-by-step increase in the quantity and certainty of summer water supply was the crucial factor. Such a change permitted the shift from basin to perennial irrigation, and, within the latter system, made possible still further increases in summer water. The distribution of resources is not the only social relationship which has affected the technical change. Government policy largely determined the structure of technical and social change in the 1950s and 1960s. Gamal Abdel-Nasser redistributed land; but unlike "the founder of Modern Egypt", Nasser's direct social changes clearly promoted equality, especially among landholders. Market relations are, of course, also social relations, and market forces have played a central role in the diffusion of new agricultural techniques. They appear to be especially important for the spread of fertilizer in the interwar period and for the current enthusiasm for tractors.
