This book studies agricultural growth, rural poverty, environmental degradation, and participatory rural institutions in India as a series of closely interrelated processes, and examines the implications for development strategy and policy in the context of the ongoing economic reforms.

Dr Hanumantha Rao observes that an encouraging feature of agricultural growth during the eighties has been its spread to the regions and crops that had hitherto lagged behind, resulting in a rise in real wages and decline in rural poverty in the less developed regions. The most disquieting feature has, however, been the decline in real public investment in agriculture, especially in irrigation, due to the paucity of resources caused by mounting subsidies.

In his study of the poverty alleviation programmes, the author finds that even though the poorest of the poor are relatively efficient in utilizing the assistance they receive, the schemes themselves are heavily dependent on the bureaucracy, leading to inefficiencies and leakages. Environmental degradation is attributed to the slow rate of land-augmenting technological change and the inequitable distribution of gains resulting in pressure on the environment from the poor as well as the affluent.