Essays

Dr. Norman Ernest Borlaug developed a new dwarf variety of wheat seed while he was in-charge of The Wheat Development Programme in Mexico in the 1950s. Even in the late forties, he along with Dr. Hassan had worked on the breeding programmes to find out the best genes of wheat in the world. Thus by 1956, Mexico became self-sufficient in food. In 1961, another breakthrough appeared when Japanese wheat variety NORIN-10 was crossed with the improved Mexican one. Such findings heralded the Green Revolution in wheat, which was also caught by rice due to great work by International Rice Research Institute (1RR1), Manila. Thus began the great Green Revolution in the early 50s in Mexico which became a worldwide revolution, gradually. Yet the term 'Green Revolution' was first used by William S. Gand on March 8, 1968 in Washington D.C. while he was addressing the society for International Development.

In India, the seeds of Green Revolution were first tested during the drought of 1964-65. These seeds were planted in different soils in Delhi, Ludhiana, Pusa and Kanpur. The yield was over 4,000 kg per hectare which was approximately about four times the yield of local varieties. These varieties were then replicated for public cultivation. High Yielding Varieties Programme was introduced in the kharif season of 1966. Thus, to define Green Revolution in the words of Dr. Hassan, "It is the phrase generally used to describe the spectacular increase in agricultural production that took place during 1968 and it continues in the production of food grains in India". States like Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh reaped the benefits of the Green Revolution in wheat while production of rice increased in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The problem lies in the fact that the revolution did not spread evenly to all the parts of the country.

There were around twelve components of Green Revolution such as high yielding varieties of seeds (HYV), irrigation - surface and ground, use of chemical fertilizers, insecticides and pesticides, Command Area Development (CAD), land reforms, consolidation of holdings, supply of agricultural credit, electrification of rural areas, construction of roads and markets, farm mechanism and development of agricultural universities. These components do not work in isolation. It is in fact the consolidated development of all the components that results in the overall development. Green Revolution has influenced Indian Economy to a large extent.

With the introduction of Green Revolution in 1967-68, there was a phenomenal increase in the production of food grains, especially the Wheat. Thus, Green Revolution in India can be exclusively called Wheat Revolution. Green Revolution increased production thus bringing prosperity to the farmers. The increased production within the country made the country self-sufficient and self reliant in food grains. This led to a considerable decrease in the quantity of import. In fact, now many a times we are in a position to export. However, as a matter of fact, the richer farmers got the maximum benefits which encouraged capitalistic farming. Green Revolution increased their level of income and also their profits. With the use of mechanized and scientific methods in farming, industries too sprang up. Tractors, harvesters, threshers, electrical motors, diesel engines, pumps etc began to be manufactured on a large scale. Besides demands for pesticides, fertilizers, insecticides increased the number of fertilizer plants in the country. Consequently, there were increased employment opportunities, especially in rural areas.

Even though, Green Revolution turned out to be a unique event in the history of Independent India by resolving the problems of hunger, famine and starvation, yet it has had certain demerits. Green Revolution has greatly profited the rich farmers but has failed to profit the smaller ones. Rather the income gap between the rich, marginal and small farmers has increased, Moreover, not all parts of the country were benefitted. Even all the crops could not reap the benefits of Green Revolution except rice and wheat. This inter-crop disbalance has reduced Green Revolution to only Wheat Revolution in India and to rice in some parts. The regional disparities have given rise to imbalance in population settlement. Moreover, the revolution took off with a great start but it could not sustain its growth rate and productivity rate over the years.

Hence, in order to do away with the ill-effects of Green Revolution, we need to widen the cultivated area, include maximum variety of crops, use effective irrigation and increase the intensity of cropping. We also need to find ways to benefit our small and marginal farmers, then only the Green Revolution can spread truly to all parts of the country.