Here is a compilation of essays on ‘Green Revolution’ for class 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on ‘Green Revolution’ especially written for school and college students.
Essay on Green Revolution
Essay Contents:
- Essay on the Meaning of Green Revolution
- Essay on the Factors Responsible for Green Revolution
- Essay on the Economic Effects of Green Revolution
- Essay on the Impact of Green Revolution on Environment
- Essay on the Problems of Green Revolution (With Solution)
Essay # 1. Meaning of Green Revolution:
Production of cereals in many underdeveloped countries has risen rapidly since the mid-1960s, especially in many Asian countries, where the rate of population growth has traditionally exceeded the rate of increase in agricultural production.
Since 1972 Asian rice production has risen by more than 25 per cent and wheat production by 15 per cent. In India alone wheat production between 1972 and 1977 rose by 39 per cent and rice production by 17 per cent. Since the mid-1960s wheat production in India has more than doubled.
The spectacular rise in production has been called the Green Revolution, and it is due to two related developments:
1. The best-known aspect of the revolution is the development of high-yielding varieties of cereal crops, especially rice and wheat. Traditional strains used in the various parts of Asia gave dependable but rather low yields. The application of fertilizer to such plants did not greatly improve the situation, because it stimulated leaf and stalk growth rather than grain development.
The taller plants tended to fall over under the weight of the grain, so that much of the crop was spoiled. The first stage in plant improvement, therefore, was the crossing of the traditional plants, which had a built- in disease resistance and hardiness, with varieties having a shorter stem, better able to stand up to the weight of the grain.
This took place first in the cooler countries, such as Japan, but in the mid- 1960s, as a result of studies at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines, IR8 was developed. This was a variety suitable for tropical conditions, with a short strong stem and a high grain yield. Much improvement has taken place since then and more desirable features have been bred into the plants.
For instance, IR8 produced a rather unpalatable grain, but this was improved by crossing it with Indian and Thai rice varieties to give types IR20 and 22, with grain which closely resembles that of high-quality Patna rice. Similar developments took place in wheat breeding. Pioneer work was done in Mexico and later in India.
Traditional species, suited to local conditions, were crossed with dwarf Japanese varieties to give a shorter and stronger stem, and higher productivity. The new varieties were introduced in India and Pakistan in 1965.
2. The great improvement in plants has been matched by an improvement in farm technology. Fertilizer production and use has been greatly expanded in the last few years. Far more weed killers and insecticides are also in use all over Asia than ever before. Moreover the new hybrids, especially padi, have a shorter growing season and this has enabled double-cropping to be introduced in regions where it was impossible before.
Essay # 2. Factors Responsible for Green Revolution:
Adoption of HYP seeds since mid-sixties has resulted in significant increase in food grain production. The government made various arrangement for ensured supply of quality seeds.
Distribution of certified seeds for wheat and paddy has shown a tremendous increase during the period 1970-71 to 1991-92. Besides high yielding varieties of seeds, the increased use of fertilizers is also responsible for ushering forth the green revolution in India.
The total amount of fertilizers used in 1960-61 was 292 thousand tonnes which increased to 2180 thousand tonnes in 1970-71. Total consumption of fertilizers has gone up to 12728 thousand tonnes during 1991-92. Per hectare consumption of fertilizer is highest in Punjab, i.e., (156 kgs). whereas the national average is 62.20 kgs per hectare during 1988-86. The consumptions of chemical fertilizer increased upto 13225 thousand tonnes in 2009-10.
Contribution of irrigation facilities is yet another important aspect of green revolution which merits attention. The net area irrigation has increased from 2466 thousand hectares in 1960-61 to 43049 hectares in 1986- 87. In the year 2005-06 the net irrigated area stood 60.2 million hectares.
Increased irrigation facilities have resulted in the increase in area under double cropping and has increased the cropping intensity which has been discussed in the previous lesson. Since new seeds are prone to diseases, so the use of plant protection measures becomes quite important. Special attention is paid to control the pest in cotton, oilseeds and pulses.
The development of necessary infrastructure viz. transport regulated markets storage and ware housing, power agricultural administration, provide the farmers with sufficient incentives to adopt the agricultural strategy. The provision of cheap agricultural credit has encouraged the adoption of new strategy.
The recent flood of literature on the green revolution has a certain similarity to the theologians, writing on God. Both are concerned with existence consequence and salvation, and both are equally contradictory in their conclusion.
Essay # 3. Economic Effects of Green Revolution:
The place of agriculture in Indian economy has never been so prestigious and important as it is today. Today, agriculture is a revolutionary concept to an Indian farmer. The green revolution holds a great promise for future growth of agricultural production and productivity
The effects of green revolution can be studied in two parts, viz.:
(i) Its economic effects and
(ii) Its social logical effects.
(I) Economic Effects:
The seed fertilizer technology has brought about phenomenal growth in the production and productivity of many food crops. Taking in physical terms as result of new agricultural technology food grains output increased substantially from 81.0 million tonnes in the Third plan (annual average) and further to 176.0 million tonnes in 1990-91. This improvement in agricultural production has been made possible by the green revolution.
HYPV was restricted to only five crop-wheat, rice jowar and bajra. Therefore, non-food grains were excluded from the amb it of the new strategy. However, the increase in food grain production has been shared equally by all the crops, at least not in the initial stages.
The gains of the green revolution were largely cornered by wheat crops and to some extent by the paddy crop, Wheat recorded the highest increase with output rising from 23.8 million tonnes in 1970-71 to 55.1 million tonnes in 1990-91 giving an annual compound growth rate of 3.6%.
However during the same period, output of rice recorded an annual growth of 2.8 percent. The increase in agricultural production has resulted from the adoption of intensive agricultural practices. The productivity increase have slowed down since late seventies.
The new agricultural technology, it is maintained, is characterised by frequent applications of water fertilisers, insecticides and weeding double cropping, bigger crops larger volumes of transportation, marketing and food processing.
This is expected to load to increased employment and increased income among the landless labourers and small farmers. Increase in agricultural production has resulted in an impress development of the agro based industries.
Labour force working in these industries have also increased. Labour force working in these industries have also increased. Agricultural growth is highly correlated with the growth of allied and other subsidiary activities. Also it is expected increased employment in industries associated with agricultural in the secondary and tertiary occupations involving carpenters mensons furniture markets etc.
However, the very same practice that are supposed to be labour intensive also involve rotary ploughs, barrow, and tillers to go with them electrically operated tube wells. Sprayers and threshers etc. which displace labour.
The net effect on employment of the labour intensive aspect of the new technology and labour displacing effects of some of the machinery is matter of controversy. Some would discover a net labour increasing effect and some would share it only animal power is displaced not human labour.
The increase in the production of food grains has resulted in the increase in marketable surplus. India had been spending crores of rupees upon food imports every years to feed its population but the green revolution has saved the foreign exchange which was paid for the import of food grains. The new agricultural strategy has increased the levels of income of rural people.
The growing income or the people in the rural areas has encouraged various types of development activities in the rural areas. Green Revolution has also stimulated the pace of industrialisation in the country by creating demand for industrial goods among their fanners. Similarly, increased income has created demand for non-traditional goods which has led to the expansion of the many consumer goods industries.
Widespread evidence shows that in the ‘Green Revolution’ areas, tenancy as such has not stood in the way of the adoption of the new technology. A very important development is for the owners to share in the cost of cultivation so as to remove the disincentive of tenants to go in for extensive cultivation; also to make advances, often interest-free, of seeds, fertilizers etc. to enable the tenants to make use of these inputs.
Ashok Rudra observed that the emergent agrarian structure would have a marked dualistic character. A dualistic agrarian structure marked- by underutilization of land on large farms and the labour on small farms has been noted to be the major contradiction.
The new technology is found to reinforce them. More recent evidence shows that the overall impact of the green revolution on growth has not been that significant. Even where technology is altered but growth rate have remained low, the effects on employment, incomes and quality of life of the poor have been adverse.
Further, there is adequate evidence on growing regional inequality in the benefits of the technology as well as of investment price and subsidy policy of the state to promote the new technology. It would consist of this crust of a medium and big farmers on the one hand a great mass of small farmers on the other hand. The thin crust who are profit oriented would mould swallow up the greater pan of the resources that would be allocated by the state for the agricultural sector.
Another study by Sucha Singh Gill shows that with in dynamics of Punjab agriculture land is shifting towards large cultivators through new palter of tenants. The evidence on the changes in inter-household inequality in technologically progressive regions as compared to technologically stagnant regions is conflicting.
But where technology induced rates of growth are low where mechanical technology followed very quickly the bio-chemical technology and where in addition scale economics favoured the large as against the small farmers resulting in the demise of the pure tenant and reverse leasing, technology within the context of the drastic structure could be expected to have unfavourable effects on the small.
Another study by Chadha and Khurana concludes that the gain of rapid economic growth tend to trickle down to all strata of the society when growth is high and sustained as in Punjab. Their study is in contradiction to a popular belief that agricultural growth leads to immigration of the working class.
Regional Inequalities:
The new agricultural strategy has led to an increase in regional inequalities. The share of northern states (comprising Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh) in food grain production has increased from 29.5%, during 1970-73 to 40% during 1989-91. As against thus the western states of Gujarat and Maharashtra registered a small increase to 7.9% whereas all other states-groups registered decline.
A well know study of agriculture growth at the district level (Bhalla and Alagh) 1970 has revealed that growth has been extremely desperate across regions of 289 districts covered by the study, as many as 71, or about one-fourth recorded negative growth during the period 1962-65 to 1970-73.
In other group of 62 districts, growth was positive but low: less than 1.5 percent a year. Only 50 districts achieved a high growth rate exceeding 4.5 percent. And a large number of districts (106) averaged only a moderate growth rate of the order of 1.45 to 4.5 percent per annum.
In 8 states (Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh), there was not a single high growth district. Agricultural growth was negative in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar Maharashtra and Orissa.
The largest proportion of districts in north western region recorded high to moderate growth in farm production. The evidence shows that the geographical pattern of agricultural growth has been highly skewed, with production becoming in some region and sinking elsewhere.
Another study by Bhalla and Tyagi highlights spatial pattern of the levels and growth in agricultural output in the country as also the variations in labour productivity at the state level. The study shows that with the adoption of new-seed fertiliser technology agriculture in major parts of the country has under gone a significant, transformation.
During 1962-65 to 1970-73, the green revolution was confined to only few northwestern states it seem to have gradually extended to many other parts of India during the seventies.
The north-western states still continue to be the main beneficiary of the gains of new technology. It is no doubt that during the second period the green revolution seem to have extended to Andhra Pradesh in the Southern region and Gujarat in the central region, but its excursion is too much narrowly confined.
It has been repeatedly argued that the ‘green revolution’ has tended to increase the gap between the rich and poor in the rural sector by channeling the benefits of the rich farmers at the expense of small peasants and the landless labourers.
Bhalla and Chadha (1982) in their study ‘Green Revolution and Small Peasant’ have shown that the gains of the new technology have been distributed more or less in proportional to the initial landholding position. Since the land holding are distributed in a very skewed manner, the distribution of gains has also been quite inequitable.
It does to the credit of marginal and small farmers of Punjab and despite their limited base they have been able to record almost as much total crop output and farm income per acre as their bigger counterparts. Thus they are able to achieve primarily by achieving a much higher cropping intensity through a rational year round utilisation of their family labour.
Another study by Satya Paul reveals that the new agricultural technology has led to a significant increase in farm productivity in Haryana. The real per capital income in farm families however, shows no significant improvement over the years (1969-70) to (1982-83).
The study reveals that a persistent decline in per capita landholdings and employment opportunities are largely responsible for this phenomena. The per capita income disparity in terms of Gini co-efficient among farm families shows an increase of far percent per annum. Disparity in per capita landholding and in per capita farm income has also increased significantly over the years.
Studies Conducted by Usha Nagpal, and George Blyn show that disparities between the rich and small farmers have tended to narrow down Blyn study show that real income from family resources increased relatively more for families with smaller holdings, thereby reducing income inequality.
More recent research has established that the labour productivity in Gujarat and Karnataka have been rising which have very low irrigation intensities are showing relatively high value added per worker. These regions have benefitted from concentrating on ‘high valued’ crops.
The implications of the new technology on poverty in rural India has been discussed with reference to farmers, crops and regions. Improved agricultural performance is definitely associated with reduction in the incidence of poverty.
A number or studies on this subject have shown a consistent negative relationship between agricultural production and the percentage of rural population falling below the poverty line. Agricultural growth and the resulting surpluses of food grains enable the government to make the employment providing schemes a large and growing component of rural development programmes.
Satya Pauls study, “Green Revolution and Poverty among Families in Haryana. 1969-70 to 1982-83 concluded that:
(1) There has been a decline in the level of poverty among farmer after 1979-80;
(2) Poverty is associated positively with consumer prices and inversely with per capita income in the region,
(3) Poverty is inversely related to the level of irrigation in the region.
Rao and Deshpande further observe that agricultural growth can have an equally significant impact on the middle strata in the rural society. A positive economic consequence of the new agricultural technology has been the improved economic viability of the middle and small holdings.
In fact then Hyv technology which became pervasive since the late 60s was preceded by land reforms which had the effect of weakening the feudal base of agriculture. Policy interventions of the state also contributed to the emergence and growth of a whole set of institution which integrated the rural markets with the wider markets.
The growth of credit institutions contributed to the integration of rural markets with wider markets. Similarly new political institutions created channels of integration of local power with state power and created effected pressures for the extension of social and economic infrastructure in rural areas.
These helped to link up local product markets with the regional and national markets and prepared the ground for the emergence of an entrepreneurial class in the place of rentier class. Though immigration is not associated with technology the second phase of technology is characterised by higher degree of inequality.
Essay # 4. Impact of Green Revolution on Environment:
The green revolution package has led to serious environment disruption. Excessive concentration of fertilizers and pesticides contaminate the stream and water-table with serious hazards for the population.
The ecological negligence in the form of cutting down of forests and non up keep of forests in the catchment areas has led not merely to the loss of the top soil and increase in the frequency and intensity of floods, but also to silting up of the reservoirs with the result that even the irrigation system is being endangered.
The new agricultural technology along with changed price policy environment has altered the production opportunities facing farmer which has affected changes in the traditional crop patterns and systems. The shift from risks-spreading and risk adjusting crop system and practices like multi-cropping, crop diversification to mono-cropping and crop specification have tended to increase risk in farming.
New profit-making opportunities have encouraged farmers to neglect some ecologically beneficial crops. For example pulses which had to bear the burden of the back flash effects of green revolution are good nitrogen fixers and help in enhancing soil fertility.
Essay # 5. Problems of Green Revolution (With Solution):
The Green Revolution has not been without its problems. Many unforeseen disadvantages have arisen because of the rapidity with which yields have increased.
Some of these problems are outlined below:
1. Small Farm Size:
In most of the countries where new cereal hybrids have been introduced the majority of the farms are very small and the problem is exacerbated by the fact that the fields are often scattered and not consolidated into a single farm area.
Where farms are small and much of the produce is used by the farmer and his family, the risk of trying a new crop is much worse than for a more prosperous farmer—the loss of a crop could mean not only monetary loss but starvation.
Small farmers have little extra money to spend on seeds and fertilizers so they find it difficult to change to a new crop variety. Small farms are more difficult to irrigate and scattered fields make the application of fertilizers and the control of pests and diseases more difficult.
Small farmers can rarely afford machinery and it is questionable whether its use is economic on a very small or scattered holding. All these difficulties make it less likely that the poorer farmers will be able to benefit from the new crops.
2. Uneven Use of New Crops:
While the poorest farmers are unable to take advantage of new technology, new varieties, fertilizers, or mechanization, the better-off landowners, with larger farms and more cash available can use all these things. This means that the rich get richer and the poor poorer by comparison and this aggravates some of the problems that the Green Revolution was intended to solve.
3. Tenancy Problems:
Where farmers are tenants of richer landowners the landlords may raise their rents or rates of interest on loans when the farmers begin to improve their profits from their crops.
4. Land Reform Problems:
In many countries the majority of farmers are tenants of large landowners. Land reform schemes have protected the tenants by returning their land or securing their tenancy. Most such schemes, however, also contain clauses to the effect that if a landowner wishes to work the whole of his land himself he may retain the power to evict tenants.
In the past, landlords have always preferred to use the land as a means of raising an income in rents and loan repayments from tenants, but with the introduction of double-cropping or of higher yielding seeds, farm mechanization has become possible.
It may now be more profitable for a landlord to dispense with his tenants and run a far larger farm on a mechanized basis. In such a case, as has happened in parts of India and in the Philippines, tenants and their families have had to leave the land, for far fewer workers are needed to run mechanized farms.
5. Falling Prices:
In some countries, where rice has traditionally been in short supply, the price is fairly high, and the poorer people cannot afford enough rice for a balanced diet. Thus actual demand is below potential demand. The increase in rice production has not been met by any rise in income in the section of the community where extra rice could be consumed and so demand has remained static while supply has increased. Thus in order to sell the extra rice prices have had to come down.
The fall in prices for the crop means that returns from double-cropping or from using new plant varieties have not raised farm incomes in proportion with production. The farmer has to spend more on machinery, fertilizer or labour inputs, but does not reap the rewards of producing greater crops.
Thus in the long term farmers may be no better off as a result of increased output. However, where prices are supported by subsidies or guaranteed prices to farmers, and remain high, much of the crop cannot be sold by the government agencies which purchase it, because potential buyers do not have the purchasing power or because it does not compete in export markets.
6. Traditional Attitudes:
In some cases farmers may be unwilling to adopt new crops because they do not want to change their way of life, e.g. by having to do extra work involved in double- cropping. However in practice, the real reason behind reluctance or inability to change is a shortage of money, or the difficulties of the physical environment.
In Java, for instance, new rice varieties have been very widely adopted and production increased during the mid-1970s. Only in regions in the ill-drained flood plains of rivers or above the reach of irrigation schemes have villages not adopted the new crops because they cannot profit from them until water control works are improved. Nor are farmers slow to change if there is a ready market.
In Punjab both Sikh and Hindu farmers who are wheat-eaters have switched to a new variety of rice and learned the necessary techniques for growing it because there is a ready market for the crop and they treat it as a cash crop.
The solutions to these problems are often difficult and may be costly. Perhaps the most important way that agriculture could be improved and the rural poor helped would be through a reform of land tenure—but this is the least likely solution to be applied.
The next most important thing that governments could do is to initiate irrigation schemes and thus extend the possibility of growing better crops to more people. This would reduce the regional inequalities which result from environmental differences and might also resolve local inequalities by making water available to all.
Finally, advantage should be taken of the newfound freedom from food shortages as the basis for more far-reaching agricultural improvements. If higher yielding varieties were grown on a large proportion of farms, enough cereals could be obtained from one crop per year.
There would then be no need for any farmer to depend solely on a low-value cereal crop. Instead of growing two crops of rice a year a farmer could grow one, which, if new plant varieties were used would probably be large, and then use his land for one or two other more valuable crops such as protein-rich vegetables or cash crops.
This would improve farm incomes, whilst still taking advantage both of new plant varieties and of newly developed irrigation schemes, and would also help to improve dietary standards in the region.
A larger production of vegetables, for instance, would make available far more protein at a fairly low cost to the consumer. Moreover, by concentrating the use of high-yielding cereals in the better areas and thus getting the best results, marginal lands currently used for cereals could be used for other purposes, such as livestock rearing, with further consequent gains in the availability of protein-rich foodstuffs.
In short, while keeping the farming population on the land rather than driving them to face unemployment in the towns, a more diversified farming system should be introduced. Mixed farming is possible on even fairly small plots of land, where crop rotation would also benefit soils, but this could only work if farmers used to a traditional mono-cultural system could be trained and educated into understanding the value of mixed farming.
Now that the Green Revolution promises to solve the overall food problem, at least for a few years, governments should encourage a more diverse agriculture, so that when production increases are again required because of rising population pressure, these can be achieved not only in cereals but also in more nutritious food as well.