Green Revolution
• Food problems have haunted mankind since ancient
• With few technological breakthroughs to increase yields,
the food needs of growing populations were historically
met by expanding the cultivated area
• As the most fertile land became scarce, further expansion
meant bringing poorer and lower yielding land into
cultivation
• By the 19th century, there was growing doubt about the
possibility of feeding ever-growing populations, as
exemplified in the writings of Thomas Malthus (1766–1834) 1
• The task seemed even more daunting as advances in
medicine and public health led to longer life expectancies
and more children born
• In the 20th century, massive public investments in modern
scientific research for agriculture led to dramatic yield
breakthroughs in the industrial countries
• The story of English wheat is typical - it took nearly 1,000
years for wheat yields to increase from 0.5 to 2 metric tons
per hectare, but only 40 years to climb from 2 to 6 metric
tons per hectare
• Modern plant breeding, improved agronomy, and the
development of inorganic fertilizers and modern pesticides
fueled these advances
2
• Most industrial countries achieved sustained food
surpluses by the second half of the 20th century, and
eliminated the threat of starvation
• These advances were much slower in reaching developing
countries
• The colonial powers invested little in the food production
systems of these countries, and by independence, their
populations were growing at historically high rates
• By the mid-1960s, hunger and malnutrition were
widespread, especially in Asia, which increasingly
depended on food aid from rich countries
3
• Back-to-back droughts in India during the mid-1960s made
the already precarious situation worse, and a 1967 report
of the U.S. President’s Science Advisory Committee
concluded that “the scale, severity and duration of the
world food problem are so great that a massive, long-
range, innovative effort unprecedented in human history
will be required to master it”
• In response, the Rockefeller and Ford foundations took
the lead in establishing an international agricultural
research system to help transfer and adapt scientific
advances to the conditions in developing countries
• The first investments were in research on rice and wheat,
two of the most important food crops for developing
countries
4
• The breeding of improved varieties, combined with the
expanded use of fertilizers, other chemical inputs, and
irrigation, led to dramatic yield increases in Asia and Latin
America, beginning in the late 1960s
• In 1968, U.S. Agency for International Development
(USAID) Administrator William S. Gaud coined the term
“Green Revolution” to describe this phenomenal growth
in agriculture
• To achieve higher yields for rice and wheat, scientists
needed to develop plants that were more responsive to
plant nutrients and that had shorter, stiffer straw to
support the weight of heavier heads of grain
5
• They also needed to develop varieties that could mature
quicker and grow at any time of the year, thereby
permitting farmers to grow more crops each year on the
same land
• New varieties also needed to be resistant to major pests
and diseases, which flourish under intensive farming
conditions, and to retain desirable cooking and
consumption traits
• Borrowing from rice-breeding work undertaken in China,
Japan, and Taiwan, the International Rice Research
Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines developed semi-dwarf
varieties that met most of these requirements
6
• Similar achievements were made for wheat after Norman
Borlaug (later awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work)
crossed Japanese semi-dwarf varieties with Mexican
wheats at what is now known as the International Center
for Maize and Wheat Improvement (CIMMYT) in Mexico
• Although the term Green Revolution originally described
developments for rice and wheat, high-yielding varieties
(HYVs) have since been developed for other major food
crops important to developing countries, including
sorghum, millet, maize, cassava, and beans
• Moreover, a full-fledged system of international
agricultural research centers now works on many aspects
of developing-country agriculture (the Future Harvest
Centers under Consultative Group on International
Agricultural Research)
7
Green Revolution
• The term Green Revolution refers to the renovation of
agricultural practices beginning in Mexico in the 1940s
• Because of its success in producing more agricultural
products there, Green Revolution technologies spread
worldwide in the 1950s and 1960s, significantly
increasing the amount of calories produced per acre of
agriculture
• Dr. Norman E. Borlaug was honored Nobel Prize in 1970
for his work in the 'Green Revolution,' saving millions of
lives from famine in India, Mexico, and the Middle East
8
9
Components of Green Revolution
• The Green Revolution was a technology package
comprising:
– High yielding seed varieties through genetic
improvement - material components of improved high
yielding varieties of two staple cereals (rice and wheat)
– Proper irrigation system - irrigation or controlled water
supply and improved moisture utilization
– Use of fertilizers and pesticides
– Use of modern machinery (tractor, harvester, thrasher)
– Expansion of farming area
– Multiple cropping system
– Improved management skills 11
History and Development of Green
Revolution
• The early stages of the Green Revolution are often
attributed to Norman Borlaug, an American scientist
interested in agriculture
• Norman Ernest Borlaug humanitarian has been called
"the father of the Green Revolution", "agriculture's
greatest spokesperson" and "The Man Who Saved A
Billion Lives
11
History and Development of Green
Revolution
• Norman Borlaug was born on March 25, 1914 in Iowa, USA
• He graduated with a Ph.D. in plant pathology from the
University of Minnesota in 1941
• He went on to study genetic mutation in plants at the
Rockefeller Foundation's Cooperative Mexican Agricultural
Program in Mexico
• Norman Borlaug’s research of genetic mutation in plants
helped start the Green Revolution, which resulted increased
wheat production in Mexico, Pakistan and India 12
Dr. N.E. Borlaug visit to the Wheat Research Institute, AARI, Faisalabad, Pakistan;
with Dr. Bajwa and Mr. Noor Muhammad, the 1st two Pakistani scientists who got
training at CIMMYT, Mexico in 1961-62.
13
14
15
• In the 1940s, he began conducting research in Mexico and
developed new disease resistance high-yield varieties of
wheat
• By combining Borlaug's wheat varieties with new
mechanized agricultural technologies, Mexico was able to
produce more wheat than was needed by its own citizens,
leading to its becoming an exporter of wheat by the 1960s
• Prior to the use of these varieties, the country was
importing almost half of its wheat supply
• Due to the success of the Green Revolution in Mexico, its
technologies spread worldwide in the 1950s and 1960s
16
• The United States for instance, imported about half of its
wheat in the 1940s but after using Green Revolution
technologies, it became self-sufficient in the 1950s and
became an exporter by the 1960s
• In order to continue using Green Revolution technologies to
produce more food for a growing population worldwide, the
Rockefeller Foundation and the Ford Foundation, as well as
many government agencies around the world funded
increased research
• In 1963 with the help of this funding, Mexico formed an
international research institution called The International
Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)
17
• Countries all over the world in turn benefited from the Green
Revolution work conducted by Borlaug and this research
institution
• India for example was on the brink of mass famine in the
early 1960s because of its rapidly growing population
• Borlaug and the Ford Foundation then implemented
research there and they developed a new variety of rice, IR8
that produced more grain per plant when grown with
irrigation and fertilizers
• Today, India is one of the world's leading rice producers and
IR8 rice usage spread throughout Asia in the decades
following the rice's development in India
18
Plant Technologies of Green
Revolution
• The crops developed during the Green Revolution were
high yield varieties - meaning they were domesticated
plants bred specifically to respond to fertilizers and
produce an increased amount of grain per acre planted
• The terms often used with these plants that make them
successful are harvest index, photosynthate allocation, and
insensitivity to day length
• The harvest index refers to the above ground weight of the
plant
19
• During the Green Revolution, plants that had the largest
seeds were selected to create the most production possible
• After selectively breeding these plants, they evolved to all
have the characteristic of larger seeds
• These larger seeds then created more grain yield and a
heavier above ground weight
• This larger above ground weight then led to an increased
photosynthate allocation
• By maximizing the seed or food portion of the plant, it was
able to use photosynthesis more efficiently because the
energy produced during this process went directly to the
food portion of the plant 22
• Finally, by selectively breeding plants that were not
sensitive to day length, researchers like Borlaug were able
to double a crop’s production because the plants were not
limited to certain areas of the globe based solely on the
amount of light available to them
21
Impacts of Green Revolution
• Agriculture Production
• Social
• Environment
22
Impacts on Agri. Production
• The adoption of HYVs occurred quickly
• By 1970, about 20% of the wheat area and 30% of the rice
area in developing countries were planted to HYVs, and by
1990, the share had increased to about 70% for both crops
• Yields of rice and wheat virtually doubled; higher yields and
profitability also led farmers to increase the area of rice and
wheat they grew at the expense of other crops
• And with faster-growing varieties and irrigation, they grew
more crops on their land each year 25
• These changes more than doubled cereal production in Asia
between 1970 and 1995, while population increased by 60%
• Instead of widespread famine, cereal and calorie availability
per person increased by nearly 30%, and wheat and rice
became cheaper
• Latin America experienced significant gains as well, but the
impact in Sub-Saharan Africa was much more modest
• Poor infrastructure, high transport costs, limited investment
in irrigation, and pricing and marketing policies that
penalized farmers made the Green Revolution technologies
too expensive or inappropriate for much of Africa
24
• Fertilizers are largely what made the Green Revolution
possible, because the high yield varieties developed during
this time cannot grow successfully without fertilizers
• Irrigation also played a large role in the Green Revolution
and this forever changed the areas where various crops
can be grown - for instance before the Green Revolution,
agriculture was severely limited to areas with a significant
amount of rainfall, but by using irrigation, water can be
stored and sent to drier areas, putting more land into
agricultural production - thus increasing nationwide crop
yields
• In addition, the development of high yield varieties meant
that only a few species of say, rice started being grown
25
• In India for example there were about 30,000 rice varieties
prior to the Green Revolution, today there are around 10 -
all the most productive types
• By having this increased crop homogeneity though the
types were more prone to disease and pests because there
were not enough varieties to fight them off
• In order to protect these few varieties then, pesticide use
grew as well
• Finally, the use of Green Revolution technologies
exponentially increased the amount of food production
worldwide
26
• Places like India and China that once feared famine have
not experienced it since implementing the use of IR8 rice
and other food varieties
27
Social Impacts
• Green Revolution led to sizable increases in returns to land,
and hence raised farmers’ incomes
• Moreover, with greater income to spend, new needs for
farm inputs, and milling and marketing services, farm
families led a general increase in demand for goods and
services
• This stimulated the rural nonfarm economy, which in turn
grew and generated significant new income and
employment of its own
28
• Real per capita incomes almost doubled in Asia between
1970 and 1995, and poverty declined from nearly three out
of every five Asians in 1975 to less than one in three by
1995
• The absolute number of poor people fell from 1.15 billion in
1975 to 825 million in 1995 despite a 60% increase in
population
• In India, the percentage of the rural population living below
the poverty line fluctuated between 50-65% before the mid-
1960s but then declined steadily to about one-third of the
rural population by 1993
• Research studies show that much of this steady decline in
poverty is attributable to agricultural growth and associated
declines in food prices 31
• The Green Revolution also contributed to better nutrition by
raising incomes and reducing prices, which permitted
people to consume more calories and a more diversified
diet
• Big increases occurred in per capita consumption of
vegetable oils, fruits, vegetables, and livestock products in
Asia
30
Problems with the Green Revolution
• Revolution of this magnitude was bound to create some
problems of its own
• Critics charged that the Green Revolution resulted in:
– Over population
– Less impact in African countries
– Environmental degradation
– Increased income inequality
– Inequitable asset distribution,
– Worsened absolute poverty
31
• But there is a tendency today to overstate the problems and
to ignore the appropriate counterfactual situation: what
would have been the magnitude of hunger and poverty
without the yield increases of the Green Revolution and with
the same population growth?
• The first criticism is that the increased amount of food
production has led to overpopulation worldwide
• The second major criticism is that places like Africa have not
significantly benefited from the Green Revolution
• The major problems surrounding the use of these
technologies here though are a lack of infrastructure,
governmental corruption, and insecurity in nations
32
• Critics of the GR argued that owners of large farms were
the main adopters of the new technologies because of
better access to irrigation, fertilizers, seeds, and credit
• Small farmers were either unaffected or harmed because
the GR resulted in lower product prices, higher input
prices, and efforts by landlords to increase rents or force
tenants off the land
• Critics also argued that the Green Revolution encouraged
unnecessary mechanization, thereby pushing down rural
wages and employment
• Although a number of village and household studies
conducted soon after the release of Green Revolution
technologies lent some support to early critics, more recent
evidence shows mixed outcomes 35
• Small farmers did lag behind large farmers in adopting
Green Revolution technologies, yet many of them
eventually did so
• Many of these small-farm adopters benefited from
increased production, greater employment opportunities,
and higher wages in the agricultural and nonfarm sectors
• Moreover, most smallholders were able to keep their land
and experienced significant increases in total production
• In some cases, small farmers and landless laborers actually
ended up gaining proportionally more income than larger
farmers, resulting in a net improvement in the distribution
of village income
34
• Development practitioners now have a better
understanding of the conditions under which the Green
Revolution and similar yield-enhancing technologies are
likely to have equitable benefits among farmers
• These conditions include:
– a scale neutral technology package that can be
profitably adopted on farms of all sizes
– an equitable distribution of land with secure ownership
or tenancy rights
– efficient input, credit, and product markets so that farms
of all sizes have access to modern farm inputs and
information and are able to receive similar prices for
their products
– policies that do not discriminate against small farms and
landless laborers (subsidies, mechanization)
35
• These conditions are not easy to meet
• Typically, governments must make a concerted effort to
ensure that small farmers have fair access to land,
knowledge, and modern inputs
• Another shortcoming of the Green Revolution was that it
spread only in irrigated and high-potential rainfed areas,
and many villages or regions without access to sufficient
water were left out
• Although evidence suggests that even in these cases
villagers obtained important indirect benefits through
increased employment and migration opportunities and
cheaper food, the benefits were rarely sufficient to prevent
further widening of income gaps.
36
• In India, for example, poverty in many low-potential rainfed
areas has improved little even while irrigated and high-
potential rainfed areas have progressed
• Regional inequalities have worsened in China as well
• The Green Revolution has also been widely criticized for
causing environmental damage
• Excessive and inappropriate use of fertilizers and
pesticides has polluted waterways, poisoned agricultural
workers, and killed beneficial insects and other wildlife
• Irrigation practices have led to salt build-up and eventual
abandonment of some of the best farming lands
37
• Groundwater levels are retreating in areas where more
water is being pumped for irrigation than can be
replenished by the rains
• And heavy dependence on a few major cereal varieties has
led to loss of biodiversity on farms
• Some of these outcomes were inevitable as millions of
largely illiterate farmers began to use modern inputs for the
first time, but inadequate extension and training, an
absence of effective regulation of water quality, and input
pricing and subsidy policies that made modern inputs too
cheap and encouraged excessive use also created negative
environmental impacts
38
• These problems are slowly being rectified without yield
loss, and sometimes with yield increases, thanks to policy
reforms and improved technologies and management
practices, such as pest-resistant varieties, biological pest
control, precision farming, and crop diversification
• Often ignored, however, is the positive impact of higher
yields in saving huge areas of forest and other
environmentally fragile lands that would otherwise have
been needed for farming
• In Asia cereal production doubled between 1970 and 1975,
yet the total land area cultivated with cereals increased by
only 4 percent
39
• Despite these criticisms though, the Green Revolution has
forever changed the way agriculture is conducted
worldwide, benefiting the people of many nations in need of
increased food production
40
Conclusion
• Overall, the Green Revolution was a major achievement for
many developing countries and gave them an unprecedented
level of national food security
• It represented the successful adaptation and transfer of the
same scientific revolution in agriculture that the industrial
countries had already appropriated for themselves
• The Green Revolution also lifted large numbers of poor
people out of poverty and helped many non-poor people
avoid the poverty and hunger they would have experienced
had the Green Revolution not occurred
41
• The largest benefits to the poor were mostly indirect, in the
form of lower food prices, increased migration opportunities,
and greater employment in the rural nonfarm economy
• The direct benefits to the poor through their own on-farm
adoption, greater agricultural employment, and
empowerment have been more mixed and depend heavily on
local socioeconomic conditions
• In many cases inequalities between regions and communities
that adopted Green Revolution technologies and those that
did not also worsened
• At the same time, the Green Revolution had many negative
environmental impacts that have still to be adequately
redressed 42
• Agricultural research remains a potent force for good in the
developing world and is the key to increasing yields further
to meet the continuing growth of food needs in developing
countries
• This need is especially urgent in Sub-Saharan Africa, which
has yet to experience an agricultural revolution of its own
• But simply adding to the pile of food will not be enough
• The indirect benefits for the poor are likely to be weaker in
the future as globalization and trade make food prices less
responsive to local production and as agriculture becomes
less important to the livelihoods of the poor
43
• Policymakers will need to target the poor more precisely to
ensure that poor people receive greater direct benefits from
new technologies
• New technologies will also need to be more
environmentally sustainable
• By building on the strengths of the Green Revolution while
seeking to avoid its weaknesses, scientists and
policymakers can take significant steps toward achieving
sustainable food security for all the world’s people
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Suggested Reading
• IFPR. 2003. Green Revolution: Curse or blessing?. International Food Policy Research
Institute. NW, Washington, DC, USA.
• Hazell, P., and C. Ramasamy, The Green Revolution Reconsidered: The Impact of High-
yielding Rice Varieties in South India (Baltimore, Md., U.S.A.: John Hopkins University Press
for IFPRI, 1991).
• Hazell, P., and L. Haddad, Agricultural Research and Poverty Reduction, 2020 Vision
Discussion Paper 34 (Washington, D.C.: International Food Policy Research Institute, 2001).
• Lipton, M., with R. Longhurst, New Seeds and Poor People (Baltimore, Md., U.S.A.: Johns
Hopkins University Press, 1989).
• Mosley, P., A Painful Ascent: The Green Revolution in Africa (London: Routledge,
forthcoming in 2003).
• Rosegrant, M., and P. Hazell, Transforming the Rural Asian Economy: The Unfinished
Revolution (Hong Kong: Oxford University Press for the Asian Development Bank, 2000).
• Tribe, D., Feeding and Greening the World:The Role of International Agricultural Research
(Wallingford,U.K.:CAB International, 1994).
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