Green RevolutionA CRITICAL ANALYSIS Group No 19

35021 Chinmoy Hait35048 Manish Ashok Gholap35074 Rahul Bhatia35102 Vanya Rai

Why analyze Green Revolution?India faces a triple emergency related to our food and agricultural system.

1. Emerged as the capital of hunger and malnutrition

2. Our food producers are themselves dying because of agriculture and trade policies

3. Those who get food are being denied their right to healthy and nourishing food. Analyzing GR would help in looking where and why it failed?

Better programs can be developed through learning approach

Systemic IssuesThe concept of ‘Green Revolution’ can be traced back to the third five year plan

It was implemented in three phases

Nature of the government in aspect of this program was pro poor when projected and pro-capitalist to the corw

Government state policies were reformist in nature

This was implemented to fight the food deficiency, to feed the ever increasing population, handle increasing imports .

Need of the InterventionFamine had ripped though parts of India in the past, and many economists and agricultural scientists predicted worse famine in the future.

Food insecurity created political insecurity

Government inability to ensure proper movement of good to areas that were in need

Government had vested interest to how to cut down imports, increase surplus and how to feed the increasing population.

Seemed like the only possible solution to existing problem

GoalsGrowth: - Attain Self sufficiency and generate surplus.

Productivity:- Increased crop yield due to increase in the use of agrochemicals.

Spillovers

Employment:- Opportunities for marginal and Landless farmers, Increment in the sale of agrochemical products which eventually leads to increase in employment.

Inclusion: - Included Marginal and landless farmers , 26% of the agricultural output by 21% marginal farmers.

Poverty Alleviation:- Inclusion of small and Marginal farmers

Strategies Area based approach:• Area where irrigation existed were chosen• First phase of Green revolution (1962-65 to 1970-73) north western region of

Punjab, Haryana, western UP• Second phase (1970-73 to 1980-83) eastern UP, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka,

Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat• Third phase (1980-83 to 1992-95) West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Orissa

Target based approach

•Small and marginal farmers were seen as potential targets

Convergence Strategies

Design features Government set up Food Corporation to buy food grains from surplus production areas and distribute it in areas afflicted with shortage.

It constituted an Agricultural Pricing Commission to ensure a minimum floor price to farmers so that there was no disincentive for increased production.

Seed and fertilizer corporations were formed Agricultural scientists were motivated to do their work better by the offer of better pay

Government established 100,000 demonstration plots across the country to prove to the farmers that the hybrid varieties were indeed more productive.

The Green Revolution was not only a planned initiative but also because it was a conscious and well conceived program.

Product of globalization transnational funding from groups like the Rockefeller Foundation, Ford Foundation, and United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Ten point programmeAdequate farm creditAdequate supply of essential production needsPrices incentivesMarketing arrangementsIntensive educational, technical and farm managementParticipation of all interested cultivators both large and smallVillage planning for increased productionA public works departmentAnalysis and evaluation of programme from its inceptionCoordination on a priority basisGovernment made recommendations for the Ford Foundation to assist it in planning and implementing

ImplementationThe concept of ‘Green Revolution’ can be traced back to the third five year plan

It was implemented in three phases

In the first phase during 1962-65 to 1970-73 , an all India compounded growth rate of 2.08% / yr. was achieved

Food grain production rose by 35% and aggregate food production increased from 89 to 112 million tonnes i.e. 10% / capita increase

In the second phase from 1970-73 to 1980-83, with the addition of HYV seed technology from wheat to rice, Green Revolution extended to other parts of the country

The third phase from 1980-83 to 1992-95 showed remarkable and encouraging results

It spread to lower growth areas of eastern region of West Bengal, Bihar, Assam and Orissa with an unparalleled growth rate of 5.39% /p.a.

The agricultural labour came from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar

There were also apprehensions that the small and marginal farmers would suffer and mechanisation would replace labour which were proved untrue

IMPACT EVALUATION

Production and Self sufficiencyFood production high: no more the begging bowl

Market surplus used to get out of previous debt

Vicious cycle of debt

Agriculture requisite increased

Cost of production for farmers increased

Price of fertilizer almost 3 times that of wheat

The equivalent wheat import increased by 50 %

1950-51 1960-61 1970-71 1973-74crore. 7 crore. 13

crore. 102

crore. 201

Environment×Genetic erosion

×Ecological degradation resulted in decrease in returns

×An additional 80 million hectare of land needed for equal production

×66% increase in cultivable land

Forest saving

Overuse ,not the use of pesticides was the cause of degradations

Employment×RED revolution

×Mechanization leading to unemployment

×Employment elasticity of output growth declined in later phases

Convergence programs

Urban development  through rural development 

Real wages of agricultural labor increased in regions with GR

Ancillary industries set up

20 million man days of employment jumped to 850 million mandays

Disparity Crop to from agricultural point of view.

crop Area to area More resources diverted to HYV areas thus non HYV areas suffered

GR affected only those areas which were already better placed Wages Disparity in wages declined but at cost of migration

Other impactsGross irrigated area 1 million hectare to 2.5 million hectare

Number of pumpsets 0.421 million to 2.4 million

Consumption of  fertilizers 306 thousand metric ton  to 2350 thousand metric ton

Increase in area to increase in yield in growth of agricultural output  1:1 to 1:4

Food imports fell  from 10.3 million ton(mt) to 3.6 mt

Availability of food from 73.5 mt  to 99.5 mt from 1966 to 1970

Reached 128.8 mt in 1984

Population growth rate was 2.1 %  whie food grain production rate was 3 %

Evaluation and feedback

Problem definition: proxies and artefacts

No holistic approach

Too much of a reductionist  approach

Full circle and stagnation

Belief that what was good for others will be good for us

Devaluation of local production system

Grain revolution not Green revolution

Evaluation and feedback Now comes age of Evergreen revolution

Gene revolution : GM seeds

Agroecology

“the application of ecological science to the design and management of sustainable agroecosystems“

-working with the land to grow crops that are most suitable for that particular environment.

-capitalizes on the local knowledge of the area

-lead to a greater sense of democracy since farmers are able to has a say in what crops that will and will not produce