25-04-2014, 11:29 AM
The green revolution
The green.ppt (Size: 1.13 MB / Downloads: 14)
Why? When?
The green revolution applies to many third world countries, but the most successful experiment was the one in India.
Here the Bengal Famine, (the world's worst recorded food disaster) happened in 1943. An estimated four million people died of hunger that year alone in eastern India.
It was therefore natural that food security was a paramount item on free India's agenda. This awareness led to the Green Revolution in India. However, the term "Green Revolution" is applied to the period from 1967 to 1978. Between 1947 and 1967, efforts at achieving food self-sufficiency were not entirely successful.
Efforts until 1967 largely concentrated on expanding the farming areas. But starvation deaths were still being reported. In a perfect case of Malthusian economics, population was growing at a much faster rate than food production. This called for drastic action to increase yield. The action came in the form of the Green Revolution.
Double-cropping existing farmland
Double-cropping was a primary feature of the Green Revolution.
Instead of one crop season per year, the decision was made to have two crop seasons per year. The one-season-per-year practice was based on the fact that there is only natural monsoon per year.
So, there had to be two "monsoons" per year. One would be the natural monsoon and the other an artificial 'monsoon’.
The artificial monsoons were created by huge irrigation facilities. Dams were built to arrest large volumes of natural monsoon water which were earlier being wasted. Simple irrigation techniques were also adopted.
Conclusion
Nothing like the Bengal Famine can happen in India again. But even today, there are places like Kalahandi where famine-like conditions have been existing for many years and where some starvation deaths have also been reported. This is due to some reasons other than availability of food in India, but the very fact that some people are still starving in India (whatever the reason may be), brings into question whether the Green Revolution has failed in its social objectives.
So, overall I feel that the Green revolution, in this case in India, has not been 100% successful, even though it has been a resounding success in terms of agricultural production.
The green.ppt (Size: 1.13 MB / Downloads: 14)
Why? When?
The green revolution applies to many third world countries, but the most successful experiment was the one in India.
Here the Bengal Famine, (the world's worst recorded food disaster) happened in 1943. An estimated four million people died of hunger that year alone in eastern India.
It was therefore natural that food security was a paramount item on free India's agenda. This awareness led to the Green Revolution in India. However, the term "Green Revolution" is applied to the period from 1967 to 1978. Between 1947 and 1967, efforts at achieving food self-sufficiency were not entirely successful.
Efforts until 1967 largely concentrated on expanding the farming areas. But starvation deaths were still being reported. In a perfect case of Malthusian economics, population was growing at a much faster rate than food production. This called for drastic action to increase yield. The action came in the form of the Green Revolution.
Double-cropping existing farmland
Double-cropping was a primary feature of the Green Revolution.
Instead of one crop season per year, the decision was made to have two crop seasons per year. The one-season-per-year practice was based on the fact that there is only natural monsoon per year.
So, there had to be two "monsoons" per year. One would be the natural monsoon and the other an artificial 'monsoon’.
The artificial monsoons were created by huge irrigation facilities. Dams were built to arrest large volumes of natural monsoon water which were earlier being wasted. Simple irrigation techniques were also adopted.
Conclusion
Nothing like the Bengal Famine can happen in India again. But even today, there are places like Kalahandi where famine-like conditions have been existing for many years and where some starvation deaths have also been reported. This is due to some reasons other than availability of food in India, but the very fact that some people are still starving in India (whatever the reason may be), brings into question whether the Green Revolution has failed in its social objectives.
So, overall I feel that the Green revolution, in this case in India, has not been 100% successful, even though it has been a resounding success in terms of agricultural production.