The regionally biased diffusion of the Green Revolution meant widened regional gaps. Let us see changes in per-capita foodgrain output by province (major 15 provinces) during the four periods including the pre-revolutionary period (Table 1-3). Rapid increases in excess amount of foodgrains are found in Punjab and Haryana (The old Punjab was separated into these two provinces in 1966.). For this reason, these two provinces enjoy the highest per-capita income level, without having any major industrial areas. The coefficient of variation of their per-capita foodgrain output among states of India has also increased to 80 now, up from 36 before the Revolution, causing greater differences in excess marketable surplus between states. Comparison of transfers of foodgrains (6th and 7th row) between states before and after the Revolution reveals substantial increases of outgoing foodgrains in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, where the Green Revolution penetrated, and overall increase of incoming foodgrains in other states. Needless to say, the differences of irrigation rates are the major factor of such changes.
Figure 1-8 compares the distribution of per-capita expenditures of land owners and agricultural laborers in the two advanced provinces in the northwest area, and B ihar, known as the poorest state, during the period when the Revolution made a degree of progress.
In any of these states, cultivators' incomes are higher than the agricultural laborers', displaying the gaps between the classes within each state, as is often pointed out. However, more attention should be given to the fact that even the expenditure distribution of the agricultural laborers (the poorest rural class composing 30% of the total agricultural population of India) in the northwest area almost overlaps that of Bihar's cultivators. This tells us the scale of the Revolution's impact on rural communities, which can be also observed in the rates of populations below the poverty line (Table 1-4).
