Green Revolution

 

Abstract: The origin of farming led to the domestication of many plant species and natural resource exploitation. Food grain production took nearly 10,000 years to reach 1 billion tons, in 1960, and only 40 years to reach 2 billion tons in 2000. This unprecedented increase, called the 'green revolution,' resulted from the creation of genetically improved crop varieties in combination with the use of improved agronomic practices.

Introduction

The Green Revolution was a period when the productivity of global agriculture increased drastically as a result of new advances. During this period, new chemical fertilizers and synthetic herbicides and pesticides were created. The developing world witnessed an extraordinary period of food crop productivity growth over the past 50 y, despite increasing land scarcity and rising land values. Although populations had more than doubled, the production of cereal crops tripled during this period, with only a 30% increase in land area cultivated. To increase global food supply and reduce world hunger, farmers started to cultivate the land using new farming techniques. These methods worked, crop yields climbed but also created a few unwanted side effects.

Advantages and disadvantages of the green revolution

Adopting new technology has also improved agricultural jobs due to the variety of job opportunities created by multiple cropping and shifting to hired employees. The linkages between agriculture and industry have also been reinforced by new technology and agricultural modernization. Before the Green Revolution, the quality of the harvest was dependent upon the quality of the growing season. A poor season would always produce a poor harvest. After the Green Revolution, there has been more consistent with the annual harvest because the fields are worked similarly each year. Issues with moisture, nutrients, or temperature can be managed on-site, reducing the impact a poor growing season has on the crop. Also, the green revolution has helped to create numerous strains of plants that are resistant to disease and pests. It makes farmers more secured financially.

The revolution heightened fertilizer use. A fertilizer usually has the potential to soak into the soil and spread to other areas if it rains. Owing to increased dependence on synthetic fertilizers rather than natural fertilizer, it reduces the soil quality, which allows nutrient replenishment. That mono-cultivation has reduced soil quality. Nutrients could not be replaced in the soil due to mono-cropping. The use of heavy machines causes soil compaction. The pesticides travel through the food chain and are accumulated in higher organisms. Some of them persist in soil, air surface water, and groundwater and continue to poison them for a long time. The long term exposure to pesticides causes cancer. Before the revolution, there were 30,000 different variants of rice. Today there are used only ten modified rice variants. As a result, if climate change, disease, or a rise in pestilence attacked the crops, the system would be weakened. With lower food grain prices in effect, farmers have become indebted and are now being found to commit suicide because of it.

Conclusion

A more sustainable and environmentally friendly system of cultivation needs to be practiced and it should have been called Organic Farming. The world is on the brink of a "green Revolution 2.0", which promises to both feed a growing world population and to do so sustainably without compromising the needs of future generations to feed themselves.

References

Buttel, F. H. The global impacts of agricultural biotechnology: a post-green revolution perspective 1995.

Ahmad, I., Shah, S. A. H., & Zahid, M. S. Why the Green Revolution was short-run phenomena in the development process of Pakistan: a lesson for future 2004.

Davies, Paul. "An Historical Perspective from the Green Revolution to the Gene Revolution". Nutrition Reviews 2003; 61 (6): S124–S134. doi: 10.1301/nr.2003.jun.S124-S134.