ABSTRACT
Few debates in the literature on agricultural development have been more contentious than those dealing with the impact of agricultural mechanization on the rural areas of developing countries. For proponents, the movement away from animal power and the drudgery of traditional agriculture is a symbol of modernization and progress. For detractors, the presence of tractors,, pumps, harvesters, threshers, etc., is simply another example of the adoption of inappropriate technology under the pressure of international commercial interests and misguided domestic economic policies.
