GREEN REVOLUTION IN INDIA

GREEN REVOLUTION IN INDIA

In India, the first Green Revolution raised the productivity by developing varieties that could mature quicker and varieties that could mature quicker and grow at any time of the year, thereby grow at any time of the year, thereby permitting farmers to grow more crops each year on the same land. Cereal yield increased manifold leading to bountiful food grains. India became the largest wheat producer. High yielding rice increased from 12% to 67%.

The first Green Revolution relied heavily on the use of large amounts of fertilizers, pesticides and other agricultural inputs. This coupled with continued expansion of farming areas led to self-sufficiency in food production.

The major scientific pathway of Green Revolution of the late 1960s was productivity enhancement of cereal grains, particularly wheat and rice. A quantum jump in the productivity and production of wheat and then rice transformed the image of India as a 'begging bowl' to a 'bread basket'.

Today, nearly 40 years later, the Green Revolution is aptly recognized as 'forest or land saving agriculture'.

If the yield improvement associated with the green revolution in wheat and rice had not taken place, India by now would have had to convert nearly 80 million hectares of forest land to produce the current level (-207 million tons) of harvest of food grains. The Green Revolution that raised the ceiling of yield also reinvigorated the entire agricultural production machinery in the country. In particular, it restored self-confidence in India's agricultural capability.

 

Adverse Impacts

There can be no doubt that the first Green Revolution lifted the country out of a situation immediately after independence when the prospects of famines and scarcity of food commodities loomed large. The rapidly expanding population could have made matters all the more worse. It was the Green Revolution that helped tackle the food security issue with increased agricultural productivity.

However, the Green Revolution did have some adverse impacts too which are being felt in the long run. Since the emphasis was mainly on cereals like rice and wheat there was a loss of productivity as far as pulses, fruits and vegetables were concerned. The present rate of fruit and vegetable production will not be able to cope with the future demand as the population is increasing rapidly.

Besides, production of the same type of cereals such as rice and wheat year after year gradually decreased soil fertility making it difficult for pulses and other vegetables to grow. Monoculture (the cultivation of same crop variety for a prolonged period) also led to breakdown of the plant's resistance to pests and diseases which is an unwelcome offshoot of the first Green Revolution.

Another criticism often directed at the first Green Revolution is the indiscriminate use of fertilizers and pesticides that is today threatening the agri-future of the country. Excessive and inappropriate use of fertilizers and pesticides led to widespread environmental damage polluting waterways, poisoning agricultural workers and killing beneficial insects and other wildlife.

The first Green Revolution also did not take care of certain areas like rained, hilly, coastal, dry land and arid zones which could be developed properly for production of exportable items like fruits, honey, mushroom, milk, meat etc.

 Critics of the Green Revolution have also argued that owners of large farms were the main adopters of new technologies because of their better access to irrigation water, fertilizers, seeds and credit. Small farmers were either unaffected or harmed because the Green Revolution resulted in lower product prices, higher input prices and efforts by landlords to increase rent or force tenants off the land. The Green Revolution also encouraged unnecessary mechanization, thereby pushing down rural wages and employment.

Faulty irrigation practices also led to salt build-up and eventual abandonment of some of the best farming lands. Ground water levels have retreated in areas where more water is being pumped for irrigation than can be replenished by the rains.

 

Second Green Revolution

The challenges of meeting the food requirements of the ever increasing population and plateauing productivity of agricultural lands can only be met by a second Green Revolution. what do we have in mind when we talk of the Second Green Revolution? This, in fact, refers to practicing sustainable agriculture. That is, protecting natural resources from becoming increasingly degraded and polluted and using production technologies that conserve and enhance the natural resource base of crops, forests, inland and marine fisheries.

 

To help bring food security to the 8 billion people projected by 2025, the world needs another Green Revolution. The Green Revolution that began in the 1960s helped keep food supply ahead of rising demand over the past 30 years. By doubling and tripling yields, it bought time for developing countries to start dealing with rapid population growth.

But the Green Revolution represented only a "temporary success", as Norman Borlaug, the Danish-American plant geneticist who was one of its architects, noted upon receiving the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize. Borlaug pointed out that it is not enough to boost yields on existing croplands; slowing population growth also is crucial.

The first Green Revolution raised the productivity of the three main staple food crops – rice, wheat and corn. Between 1950 and 1990 grains yields increased by nearly two and a half times, from 1.06 metric tons per hectare to 2.52 tons. The second revolution must aim at raising the productivity of other important food crops such as sorghum, millet and cassava – foods produced and consumed mainly by the world's poor.

So far, the outlook for a second Green Revolution is uncertain. Because most increases in food supplies must come from currently cultivated land, raising productivity will require new technologies and better farming practices. Besides, green technologi4es will have to be specially focused on dry land agriculture and to benefit small and marginal farmers. Soil health enhancement through concurrent attention to the physics, chemistry and microbiology of the soils is equally important. Also of vital concern are water harvesting, water conservation and sustainable and equitable use of water.

 

Apart from the actual focus on farming practices, attention also needs to be paid to issues such as access to affordable credit and to crop and life insurance reform. Equally important are development and dissemination of appropriate technologies and improved opportunities, infrastructure and regulations for marketing of produce.

 

Strategies for Second Green Revolution:

Several strategies have been talked about to usher in the second Green Revolution that would lead to increased agricultural productivity and will be at the same time sustainable without long-term damage to the soil or the environment. Some of these are discussed here.

 

Micro-irrigation System:

The government has given special thrust to improving agricultural productivity with heavy investments in micro-irrigation systems. The government is likely to adopt the recommendations of the task force on micro-irrigation. One of the key recommendations is increasing the area under irrigation by 14 million hectares over the Eleventh Plan period (2007-08 to 2011-12).

Adoption of micro-irrigation technology will enable optimal synergies of the three components of the Green Revolution – improved seeds, water and fertilizers. Some countries have already adopted micro-irrigation techniques to use their water more efficiently and to improve productivity. Micro-irrigation systems enable direct and concentrated application of water to root zones of crops, through specially designed emitters and piping networks. At present, only 1.2 mn hectares of farmland in India is covered under micro-irrigation out of a potential 69 mn hectares. The task force has recommended increasing the area under micro-irrigation from the current 1.3 mn hectares to 69 mn hectares.

 

Organic Farming:

Green revolution technologies involving greater use of synthetic agrochemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides with adoption of nutrient-responsive, high-yielding varieties of crops have boosted the production output per hectare in most cases. However, this increase in production has slow4ed down and in some cases there are indications of decline in productivity and production. moreover, the success of industrial agriculture and the green revolution in recent decades has often masked significant adverse effects such as damage to natural resources and human health as well as agriculture itself.

Environmental and health problems associated with agriculture have been increasingly well documented, but it is only recently that the scale of the external costs has attracted the attention of planners and scientists. As the external costs of farming are no internalized in the price of food, tax payers (or more likely the future generations) will have to pay the bill that is getting bigger every day. Increasing consciousness about conservation of environment as well as of health hazards caused by agrochemicals has brought a major shift in consumer preference towards food quality, particularly in the developed countries.

Global consumers are increasingly looking forward to organic food that is considered safe and hazard-free. The demand for organic food is steadily increasing both in developed and developing countries, with annual average growth rate of 20-25%. Worldwide, over 130 countries produce certified organic products in commercial quantities.

 

Precision farming:

Agriculture is the backbone of our country and economy, which accounts for almost 18.5 per cent of GDP and employs 52 percent of the population. Though this is a rosy picture of our agriculture, how long will it meet the growing demands of the ever-increasing population? This is a difficult question to answer, if we depend only on traditional farming.

Agricultural technology available in the 1940s could not have been able to meet the demand of food for today's population, in spite of the green revolution. similarly, it is very difficult to assume that the food requirement for the population of 2020 AD will be supplied by the technology of today. To meet the forthcoming demand and challenge we will have to move towards new technologies for revolutionizing our agricultural productivity.

The term "Precision Farming" or "Precision Agriculture" is capturing the imagination of many people concerned with the production of food, feed, and fiber. It offers the promise of increasing productivity, while decreasing production costs and minimizing the environmental impact of farming.

 

Precision farming provides a new solution using a systems approach for today's agricultural issues such as the need to balance productivity with environmental concerns. It is based on advanced information technology. It includes describing and modeling variation in soils and plant species, and integrating agricultural practices to meet site-specific requirements. It aims at increased economic returns, as well as at reducing the energy input and the environmental impact of agriculture.

 

Green Agriculture:

Green agriculture is a system of cultivation with the help of integrated pest management, integrated nutrient supply and integrated natural resources management systems. This is widely practiced and promoted in China. Green agricultural does not exclude the use of minimum essential quantities of mineral fertilizers and chemicals pesticides.

 

Eco-agriculture:

Eco-agriculture is defined as an approach that brings together agricultural development and conservation of biodiversity as explicit objectives in the same landscapes. (Eco-agriculture: Strategies to Feed the World and Save Wild Biodiversity, Island Press, Washington, 2003).

 

Eco-agriculture aims at mutually reinforcing relationships between agricultural productivity and conservation of nature. Innovative eco-agriculture approaches can draw together the most productive elements of modern agriculture, new ecological insights and the knowledge that local people have developed from thousands of years of living is harmony with nature.

 

White Agriculture:

White agriculture is a system of agriculture based on a substantial use of microorganisms, particularly fungi. The concept of white agriculture took shape in 1986 in China.

White refers to the white-coated scientists and technicians performing high tech processes to produce food directly from micro-organisms or to use them to augment and improve green agriculture.

 

One straw Revolution: One-straw revolution is a system of natural farming proposed by Masanobu Fukuoka. Its four principles are:

·         No cultivation (no ploughing or turning the soil),

·         No chemical fertilizer or prepared compost,

·         No weeding by tillage or herbicides (weeds play a part in building soil fertility; they need to be controlled, but not eliminated), and

·         No dependence on chemicals or poisonous pesticides.

 

Future of Indian Agriculture

The future Indian agriculture depends upon our ability to enhance the productivity of small holdings without damage to their long-term production potential. Transforming green revolution into an evergreen revolution using one of more of the several pathways described here will usher in a win-win situation for both farmers and ecosystems. Crop-livestock integration and introduction of stemnodulating legumes or pulse crops in rotation will facilitate the building up of soil fertility. Instead of placing the above mentioned seven approaches to sustainable agriculture in different compartments, it will be prudent to develop for each farm an ever-green revolution plan based on an appropriate mix of the different approaches which can ensure both ecological and economic sustainability.

Over the past 50 years, agricultural growth has exceeded population growth in most parts of the world. These food production successes have helped to diminish the potential for conflict over food, land and water resources. but the easy targets of opportunity in agriculture have largely been exploited. More difficult ones lie ahead, which are often seriously complicated by problems of high population density, poverty and declining resource bases, both in quantity and quality, and inadequate systems of governance.

While we cannot lost sight of the aggregate need to increase food and agricultural production (the pile of food), we must also pay much more research and development attention to the special production and nutritional needs of the chronically food insecure. Expanding the reach of science and technology to areas and farmers that were by passed during the original green revolution combined with foreseeable improvements in overall crop productivity can make it possible to achieve sustainable food security for all. Higher farm incomes will permit smallholder farmers, especially in marginal lands, to make added investments to protect the natural resource base.

Those low-income countries that have been most successful in reducing hunger have generally had more rapid economic growth in their agricultural sectors. However, economic growth alone is insufficient for eliminating hunger because so many hungry people are often excluded from society and are unable to demand rights and live beyond the reach and benefits of markets. Effective social safety nets are also needed to ensure that those who cannot produce or buy food still get enough to eat.

Globalization has brought with it great changes in the integration of international markets  and financial systems and significant economic progress and benefit of three, possibly four,  billion people. But, there are as many as 2.5 billion people at risk of becoming permanently marginalized from these market systems, destined to lives of perpetual poverty and despair. The only way to attain food and nutrition security is by improving marginal and dry land agriculture in a sustainable manner by implementing the second green revolution.

 

Second Green Revolution Important Consideration

·         Although agriculture, animal husbandry and fisheries are the major source of food security, the entire agriculture rehabilitation programme is yet to receive the much needed attention of the Government and non-governmental organizations.

·         The strategy for food security needs to particularly focus on those who are under BPL as well as small, marginal farmers, landless wage earners, nutrition deficient and problematic areas through a three-pronged strategy, namely

a) Increase in income and agriculture wage by increasing farm productivity

b) Provision of additional off-farm and non-farm employment

c) Effective and strong PDS.

·         Benefits of research must reach farmers for improving yield and enhancing production

·         Improvements in infrastructure for marketing

·         Soil health enhancement

·         Better water management practices

·         Access to affordable credit

·         Private public partnerships

·         Decentralization and participation by the poor in development programmes

·         Opportunity for assured and remunerative marketing for dry land arm products