Green revolution

The Green revolution isprocesstechnological developmentagricultural techniques that beganMexico1944has since spread throughoutworld. The goal ofGreen revolution wasincreaseefficiencyagricultural processes so thatproductivity ofcrops was increasedcould help developing countriesface their growing populations needs.

The Green revolution has since startedface strong criticisms (discussed below),is being replacedsome cases by integrated farming or organic farming techniques.

Tablecontents

1 History 2 Technologies 2.1 Hybrid strains 2.2 Agricultural Techniques 3 Criticisms ofGreen revolution 4 See also 5 External links

History

The Green Revolution began1944 whenRockefeller Foundation founded an instituteimproveagricultural outputMexican farms. This produced astounding results, so that Mexico went from havingimport half its wheatself-sufficiency by 1956,by 1964,exportshalfmillion tonswheat.

From there,technologies were exported abroad, finding useregions all overworld. The successincreasing yields was undisputable. The growthcrop yields was such that agriculture was now ableoutstrip population growth - per capita production increased every year following 1950.

The usegenetic engineeringagriculturecreate genetically modified foodsviewed by some asnatural continuation ofGreen revolution.

Technologies

The Green revolution technologies broadly fall into two major categories. The first isbreedingnew plant varieties;second isdevelopmentnew agricultural techniques.

Hybrid strains

Most crops consumed bypublic-at-largeindustrialized nationsGreen revolution crops. The designhybrid strains (so called becausewere created by cross-breedingbroad rangevarietiesproducedesired combinationcharacteristics insingle variety, although random mutagenesis was also used) was motivated bydesire to, first, increase crop yield,alsoincrease durabilitytransportlongevitystorage. Norin 10 wheatan examplesuchstrain that helped developing countries, such as IndiaPakistanincreaseproductivitytheir crops. Since then, strains have been bredbetter appearance (e.g. plumper tomatoes, straighter, more evenly-colored rowscorn).

Since improved crop yield was produced mostly throughuseheavy fossil fuel inputs (discussed below),increased efficiencyGreen revolution strainsgeared towards these inputs; that is,strainsmore efficient at exploitingchemical fertilizers used,alsodesignedbe easierharvest mechanically.

Agricultural Techniques

The techniques refineddeveloped byGreen revolution are, roughly:

• Extensive usechemical fertilizers - Every plant basically relies on several basic compoundsordergrow. Primarynitrogen need. Only innitrate form can plants absorbnitrogenrequire. Certain microorganisms found insoilableconvert atmospheric nitrogen intonitrate form plants can use. Also, some biological nitrogen fixation can take place by microorganisms livingsmall nodules onrootscertain plants, such as legumes. Phosphatesalso important, as well as numerous trace elements. Soil pH (acidity or alkalinity) must also be adjusted tooptimal conditions forcropquestion. Previously proper soil conditions had relied only on techniques such as crop rotation, mixingcrops, or organic fertilizers like horse manure. The major development ofGreen revolutionthis field wasusechemical fertilizersadjustsoil pH balanceachieveright levelsallimportant chemical compounds needed forplantgrow.
• Irrigation - Althoughhas beenuseagriculturethousandsyears,Green revolution further developed irrigation methodsallowmore efficient irrigation.
• Useheavy machinery - Mechanized harvestersother machinery was not newagriculture -McCormick reaper was developed innineteenth century - butGreen revolution alloweddrastic reduction ininputhuman laboragriculture by extendingusemachineryautomate every possible agricultural process.
• Pesticidesherbicides - The developmentchemical pesticidesherbicides (including organochlorineorganophosphate compounds) allowed further improvementscrop yields by allowingefficient weed control (by useherbicide early ingrowing season)eradicationinsect pests.

In recent years, genetic engineering techniques have been usedfurther enhance somethese Green revolution advances, especiallyusepesticidesherbicides. For example, many commercial crops these days have engineered herbicide tolerances, so that applicationmore herbicide will eliminate undesirables (weeds) while leavingcrop unaffected.

Criticisms ofGreen revolution

The Green revolution has been criticized on several grounds, butprimary argumentenvironmental. The Green revolution, critics argue,flawed on several counts:

• Lossbiodiversity & food quality - The spreadGreen revolution hybrids andassociated techniques has resultedmany fewer varietiescrops being grown. Some crops have seen upwards of90% reductioncrop varieties. Dependence on one orfew forms ofcrop means increased fragility ofpopulationimpaired abilityimprove crops infuture,addition tounmeasurable loss ofcontribution ofvaried diet. In addition Green revolution cropsbredgrowth efficiencylongevity (and sometimes appearance), nothealth value. As such many hybrid cropsinferiornutritional valuetheir ancestors. The introductionGreen revolution staples into regions that previously had hundreds or even thousandsvarietiescrops, as well asreplacementvarious nutrition sources withsingle Green revolution alternative have ledpoor nutrition asresultswitching from varied dietsmany nutrition sourcessingle-crop or fewer-crop diets.

• Fossil fuel dependence - While agricultural output increased asresult ofGreen revolution,energy input intoprocess (that is,energy that must be expendedproducecrop) has also increased atgreater rate, so thatratiocrops producedenergy inputed has decreased over time. Green revolution techniques also heavily rely on chemical fertilizers, pesticidesherbicides, somewhich must be developed from fossil fuels, making agriculture increasingly reliant on petroleum products.

• Pollution - Fertilizer, pesticideherbicide runoff continuebesignificant sourcepollution, andmajor sourcewater pollution. Althoughdangerous, toxicsometimes cancer-causing pesticides ofearly half ofcentury (like 2,4,5-TDDT) have mostly been phased outagricultural usage (although DDT continuesbe usedThird-world nations), their effects have often not been erased.

• Land degradation - Critics charge thatGreen revolution destroys soil quality overlong range. This isresult ofvarietyfactors, including increased soil salinity that results from heavy irrigation; "burning" ofsoil by heavy usechemical fertilizers, killing off beneficial soil microbesother organisms; erosion ofsoil;lossvaluable trace elements. This can leadincreased reliance on chemical inputscompensatedeteriorating soil quality,process which may ultimately fail.

Finally, therean important social dimension which must be considered. The Green revolution introduced major changes intoworld wheremajority ofpeople still depend on farmingtheir livelihood. The resultmanythese techniques wasencouragementlarge-scale industrial agriculture atexpensesmall farmers, who were unablecompete withhigh-efficiency Green revolution crops. The result has been massive displacementincreasing urbanizationpoverty amongst these farmers, andlosstheir landlarge agricultural companies, whomuch more ablemanageconsiderable enterprise involvedeffectively exploiting Green revolution techniques. This may be not unlikeLuddites complaints aboutIndustrial Revolution.

The Green Revolutionagriculture helped food productionkeep pacepopulation growth. Many people believesecond Green Revolutionlikelytake place,should focus onfood crops grown by2 billionspeople lacking food security.

See also

• Crop breeding

External links

[1] http://www.orst.edu/instruction/bi301/greenrev.htm

[2] http://www.agron.iastate.edu/courses/agron342/revolution.html

[3] Shiva, Vandana. "Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking ofGlobal Food Supply", South End Press 2000