ABSTRACT
The unprecedented fall in the poverty levels of Asian countries during the recent decades mirrors the large contribution made by the green revolution to the structural transformation (Ravallion and Chen, 2004). The poverty reduction ability of agricultural growth in India was well demonstrated by Datt and Ravallion (1998). Though this is being questioned in the light of the declining contribution of agriculture to national economies of many south Asian countries (see Byerlee et al., 2005), this argument in development thinking that agricultural growth can reduce poverty is still applicable to many backward regions that are still agrarian.
