A History of India's Green Revolution: Reign of Technocracy

‘While much ink has been spilled on India’s Green Revolution, Prakash Kumar has done the legwork to provide subtle new view. Deeply researched and broadly conceived, A History of India’s Green Revolution moves deftly between the local and the global to offer timely new lessons on agrarian reform. An essential read for those interested in rural India’s past, present, and future.’ David C. Engerman, Leitner International Interdisciplinary Professor, Yale University

‘In the ever-verdant fields of green revolution research, Prakash Kumar has sown important ideas. Through a historical tap-root reaching down a century he has chosen to expose the balance between agricultural policy as a conflictual terrain replete with unintended outcomes and the development of a powerful problem-solving agricultural technocracy. This persistent balancing act between political and technocratic forces and their yields and between Indian and foreign institutions tends policy to this day – and in fields far removed from agriculture. Prakash’s insight and his themes are as widely relevant as his adroit historian’s navigation of a minefield of competing theories and his conjuring of the detail of individual lives.’ Barbara Harriss-White, Emeritus Professor of Development Studies, Oxford University

‘Kumar’s history of the Green Revolution looks both backwards and sideways, insisting that both colonial genealogies and American influence shaped this storied episode of postcolonial Indian modernity. The book is a testament to what rigorous archival work across continents can reveal. A must read for anyone interested in modern Indian history.’ Projit Bihari Mukharji, Professor of History, Ashoka University