Biochemical technology and Bangladeshi land productivity: Diwan and Kallianpur's analysis reapplied and critically examined.

The objective of this paper is to assess quantitatively the importance of biological technology in increasing the productivity of Bangladeshi land in terms of foodgrain production following the 'Green Revolution'. The main purpose is to apply the innovative empirical study by Diwan and Kallianpur (1985) in a new context, namely Bangladesh, to see whether the empirical results conform to those obtained from India and to comment critically on the method employed by Diwan and Kallianpur (1985, 1986).
First of all this paper briefly reviews relevant literature and following the methodology employed by Diwan and Kallianpur (1985), specifies the analytical framework adopted. The model is specified empirically in order to estimate the contribution of biological technology to Bangladeshi foodgrain productivity per hectare of cultivated land. The empirical findings are compared with those of the Diwan-Kallianpur (D-K) study for India. In contrast to the D-K study, it is argued that the fertilizer input has made a significant contribution to productivity increase in Bangladeshi foodgrains. This follows from the conclusions reached via reinterpretation of the D-K model and is supported by other evidence. It is contended that the D-K approach is subject to severe limitations and that it can give a misleading view of the contribution to production of the new technology associated with the 'Green Revolution'. But before beginning detailed analysis let us first note the main features of the technological transformation that has occurred in Bangladeshi agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]