10-09-2013, 11:48 AM
GREEN REVOLUTION
GREEN REVOLUTION.ppt (Size: 3 MB / Downloads: 28)
INTRODUCTION
Green revolution refers to a series of research, development, and technology transfer initiatives, occurring between the 1940s and the late 1970s, that increased agriculture production around the world.
The initiatives, led by Norman Borlaug, the "father of the green revolution" credited with saving over a billion people from starvation, involved the development of high-yielding varieties of cereal grains, expansion of irrigation infrastructure, modernization of management techniques, distribution of hybridized seeds, synthetic fertilizers, and pesticides to farmers.
The term "green revolution" was first used in 1968 by former united states agency for international development (usaid) director William gaud, who noted the spread of the new technologies.
He said,-"These and other developments in the field of agriculture contain the makings of a new revolution. It is not a violent red revolution like that of the soviets, nor is it a white revolution like that of the shah of Iran. I call it the green revolution.
HISTORY
The beginnings of the Green Revolution are often attributed to Norman Borlaug, an American scientist interested in agriculture.
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.
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.
Effects on food security
The effects of the green revolution on global food security are difficult to assess because of the complexities involved in food systems.
The world population has grown by about four billion since the beginning of the green revolution and many believe that, without the revolution, there would have been greater famine and malnutrition. India saw annual wheat production rise from 10 million tons in the 1960s to 73 million in 2006.
the average person in the developing world consumes roughly 25% more calories per day now than before the green revolution.
between 1950 and 1984, as the green revolution transformed agriculture around the globe, world grain production increased by over 250%.
The production increases fostered by the green revolution are often credited with having helped to avoid widespread famine, and for feeding billions of people.
There are also claims that the Green Revolution has decreased food security for a large number of people.
One claim involves the shift of subsistence-oriented cropland to cropland oriented towards production of grain for export or animal feed.