Agricultural scientist Norman Borlaug, the father of the "Green Revolution" who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in combating world hunger and saving hundreds of millions of lives, died recently. He was 95 years of age.
Economics for everyone-gains of green revolution
Agricultural scientist Norman Borlaug, the father of the "Green Revolution" who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in combating world hunger and saving hundreds of millions of lives, died recently. He was 95 years of age. Norman Borlaug, who is known as the father of the 'green revolution', won the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in combating world hunger in 1970. He was also the recipient of the Padma Vibhushan in India. Borlaug was a distinguished professor at the university in College Station, Texas.
Terming the death of agricultural scientist and Nobel laureate Norman Borlaug as the end of an era, the indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described him as one with a "towering intellect" who "helped millions of people escape from a life of hunger and deprivation"."With the passing away of Norman Borlaug an era has ended, in which he spearheaded a scientific revolution in agriculture," the prime minister said in a message.
The Nobel committee honoured Borlaug in 1970 for his contributions to high-yield crop varieties and bringing other agricultural innovations to the developing world. Many experts credit the green revolution with averting global famine during the second half of the 20th century and saving perhaps 1 billion lives.
Thanks to the green revolution, world food production more than doubled between 1960 and 1990.
Let us try to understand what we mean by the Green revolution
Green Revolution refers to the transformation of agriculture that began in 1945. One significant factor in this revolution was the Mexican government's request to establish an agricultural research station to develop more varieties of wheat that could be used to feed the rapidly growing population of the country.In 1943, Mexico imported half its wheat, but by 1956, the Green Revolution had made Mexico self-sufficient; by 1964, Mexico exported half a million tons of wheat. The associated transformation has continued as the result of programs of agricultural research, extension, and infrastructural development. These programs were initiated and largely funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, along with the Ford Foundation and among other major agencies.The Green Revolution allowed food production to keep pace with worldwide population growth. The Green Revolution has had major social and ecological impacts, making it a popular topic of study among sociologists.The term "Green Revolution" was first used in 1968 by former USAID director William Gaud, who noted the spread of the new technologies and said,
In India the term "Green Revolution" is applied to the policy efforts which also as a part of its programme involved introduction of high yielding variety seeds by the Indian government for the agricultural sector during the 60’s.
In the mid 60’s India was on the brink of mass famine. Borlaug was invited to India by the adviser to the Indian minister of agriculture M. S. Swaminathan. Despite bureaucratic hurdles imposed by India's grain monopolies, the Ford Foundation and Indian government under the leadersship of the able Minister for food and Agriculture Mr.C.Subramaniam and the then Prime Minister Lal Bhadur Shastri collaborated to import wheat seed from CIMMYT. Punjab was selected by the Indian government to be the first site to try the new crops because of its reliable water supply and a history of agricultural success. India began its own Green Revolution program of plant breeding, irrigation development, and financing of agrochemicals.
India soon adopted IR8 - a semi-dwarf rice variety developed by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) that could produce more grains of rice per plant when grown with certain fertilizers and irrigation. In 1968, Indian agronomist S.K. De Datta published his findings that IR8 rice yielded about 5 tons per hectare with no fertilizer, and almost 10 tons per hectare under optimal conditions. This was 10 times the yield of traditional rice. IR8 was a success throughout Asia, and dubbed the "Miracle Rice". IR8 was also developed into Semi-dwarf IR36.
What was Green Revolution in India?
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Continued expansion of farming areas;
As mentioned above, the area of land under cultivation was being increased right from 1947. But this was not enough in meeting with rising demand. Other methods were required. Yet, the expansion of cultivable land also had to continue. So, the Green Revolution continued with this quantitative expansion of farmlands.
Double-cropping existing farmland
Double-cropping was a primary feature of the Green Revolution. Instead of one crop season per year, the decision was made to have two crop seasons per year. The one-season-per-year practice was based on the fact that there is only natural monsoon per year. This was correct. So, there had to be two "monsoons" per year. One would be the natural monsoon and the other an artificial 'monsoon.' The artificial monsoon came in the form of huge irrigation facilities. Dams were built to arrest large volumes of natural monsoon water which were earlier being wasted. Simple irrigation techniques were also adopted.
Using seeds with improved genetics.
This was the scientific aspect of the Green Revolution. The Indian Council for Agricultural Research was re-organized in 1965 and then again in 1973. It developed new strains of high yield value (HYV) seeds, mainly wheat and rice but also millet and corn. The most noteworthy HYV seed was the K68 variety for wheat. The credit for developing this strain goes to Dr. M.P. Singh who is also regarded as the hero of India's Green revolution.
Impact of the Green Revolution
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In the 1960s, rice yields in India were about two tons per hectare; by the mid-1990s, they had risen to six tons per hectare. India became one of the world's most successful rice producers, and is now a major rice exporter, shipping nearly 4.5 million tons in 2006.
Thus at a time in the '60s when the country was facing the spectre of severe food shortages, the introduction of Borlaug's high yielding varieties of seeds set in motion a technological revolution in Indian agriculture that led eventually to the country achieving self-sufficiency in foodgrain
The Green Revolution resulted in a record grain output of 131 million tons in 1978-79. This established India as one of the world's biggest agricultural producers. No other country in the world which attempted the Green Revolution recorded such level of success. India also became an exporter of food grains around that time.
Yield per unit of farmland improved by more than 30 per cent between 1947 (when India gained political independence) and 1979 when the Green Revolution was considered to have delivered its goods.
The crop area under HYV varieties grew from seven per cent to 22 per cent of the total cultivated area during the 10 years of the Green Revolution. More than 70 per cent of the wheat crop area, 35 per cent of the rice crop area and 20 per cent of the millet and corn crop area used the HYV seeds.
Crop areas under high-yield varieties needed more water, more fertilizer, more pesticides, fungicides and certain other chemicals. This spurred the growth of the local manufacturing sector. Such industrial growth created new jobs and contributed to the country's GDP.
The increase in irrigation created need for new dams to harness monsoon water. The water stored was used to create hydro-electric power. This in turn boosted industrial growth, created jobs and improved the quality of life of the people in villages.
India paid back all loans it had taken from the World Bank and its affiliates for the purpose of the Green Revolution. This improved India's creditworthiness in the eyes of the lending agencies.
Some developed countries, especially Canada, which were facing a shortage in agricultural labour, were so impressed by the results of India's Green Revolution that they asked the Indian government to supply them with farmers experienced in the methods of the Green Revolution.
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Note: CIMMYT - International Maize and wheat Improvemnet Center (in Spanish: Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo, CIMMYT).CIMMYT grew out of a pilot program in Mexico in 1943, sponsored by the Government of Mexico and the Rockefeller Foundation.
CIMMYT acts as a catalyst and leader in a global maize and wheat innovation network that serves the poor in developing countries. Drawing on strong science and effective partnerships, we create, share, and use knowledge and technology to increase food security, improve the productivity and profitability of farming systems, and sustain natural resources. CIMMYT aims to be the world's premier applied research organization for maize and wheat and associated cropping systems, as well as a leader in partnerships to help maize and wheat farmers in developing countries enjoy enhanced livelihoods and escape poverty through more productive, sustainable agriculture.
Prof.M.Guruprasad
AICAR BUSINESS SCHOOL
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