Green Revolution

What is Green revolution?

The introduction of high-yielding varieties of seeds after 1965 and the increased use of fertilizers and irrigation are known collectively as the Green Revolution, which provided the increase in production needed to make India self-sufficient in food grains, thus improving agriculture in India.

Why is it significant ?

 Famine in India, once accepted as inevitable, has not returned since the introduction of Green Revolution crops.It made India self sufficient in food grains

How was it implemented?

All India Radio (AIR) played a vital role in creating awareness for these methods. Along with high yielding seeds and irrigation facilities, the enthusiasm of farmers mobilized the idea of agricultural revolution and is also credited to All India Radio.


Results

Positive : The major benefits of the Green Revolution were experienced mainly in northern and northwestern India between 1965 and the early 1980s; the program resulted in a substantial increase in the production of food grains, mainly wheat and rice

Negative : The Green Revolution created wide regional and interstate disparities.The plan was implemented only in areas with assured supplies of water and the means to control it, large inputs of fertilizers, and adequate farm credit. These inputs were easily available in at least parts of the states of Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh; thus, yields increased most in these states. In other states, such as Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, in areas where these inputs were not assured, the results were limited or negligible, leading to considerable variation in crop yields within these states. The Green Revolution also increased income disparities: higher income growth and reduced incidence of poverty were found in the states where yields increased the most and lower income growth and little change in the incidence of poverty in other states

Criticism

This movement is now under fire, and is blamed for the spread of Land Degradation in India due to excessive use of fertilizers, pesticides, etc

With increasing poisoning of the soil, the region once hailed as the home to the Green revolution, now due to excessive use of chemical fertilizer, is being termed the "Other Bhopal", and "even credit-takers of the Revolution have begun to admit they had been wrong, now that they see wastelands and lives lost to farmer suicides in this “granary of India".

The Green Revolution has also been criticized as unsustainable. It requires immense amounts of capital each year to purchase equipment and fertilizers.This may lead to a cycle of debt if a farmer is unable to pay off the loans required each year. Additionally, the crops require so much water that water tables in some regions of India have dropped dramatically.If this drop continues, it is possible that the process of desertification may take place