• RAJENDRA DAYAL

Rural reforms were instituted in the backdrop of strained peasant-party-state relations engendered by a lack of improvement in peasants' income/consumption, falling work incentives, increasing inefficiencies in agriculture, declining productivity, and increasing difficulties of the state in the procurement of grains. Starting from the Third Plenum (1978) a slew of reform measures were undertaken to address these issues. As a result, the agricultural sector registered phenomenal and unprecedented high growth rates in terms of production, value of output and yields along with a much more balanced structure of output than in the past, and brought significant income and consumption gains to the peasantry during the first decade of post-Mao China. Based on policy analysis and literature on rural reforms, the paper argues that institutional transformation in agriculture from collective farming to household farming system helped peasants to incentivize production, and contributed to better allocative efficiency at the farm level. The changes in procurement policy incentivized peasants to produce more and sell more to the government. The relaxation in production planning helped peasants diversify agricultural produce and go for high value crops. While these policies brought unprecedented gains to peasants these had their flip side as well , as the very success of the policies brought in new problems for the government such as the financial burden of mandatory procurement , and dip in investment in agriculture following de-collectivization. While these signalled further reforms, rural reforms post 1978 cemented peasant-state relations.

Rural Reforms, De-collectivization, Agricultural Growth, Peasants Incentives, Income, Procurement

"State and Peasants in Post -Mao China: The Political Economy of Agriculture (1978-88)", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.11, Issue 1, page no.g888-g899, January-2024, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2401700.pdf

"State and Peasants in Post -Mao China: The Political Economy of Agriculture (1978-88)", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.11, Issue 1, page no. ppg888-g899, January-2024, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2401700.pdf