Green Revolution
- The Green Revolution is referred to as the process of increasing agricultural production by incorporating modern tools and techniques.
- Green Revolution is associated with agricultural production.
- It is the period when agriculture of the country was converted into an industrial system due to the adoption of modern methods and techniques like the use of high yielding variety seeds, tractors, irrigation facilities, pesticides, and fertilizers.
- Until 1967, the government majorly concentrated on expanding the farming areas.
- But the rapidly increasing population than the food production called for a drastic and immediate action to increase yield which came in the form of the Green Revolution.
The method of green revolution:
- Using seeds with improved genetics (High Yielding Variety seeds).
- Double cropping in the existing farmland and,
- The continuing expansion of farming areas
Positive Impact of Green Revolution in India
Agricultural Production
- Green Revolution has remarkably increased Agricultural Production. Foodgrains in India saw a great rise in output.
- The biggest beneficiary of the revolution was the Wheat Grain.
- The production increased to 55 million tonnes in the early stage of the plan itself.
Agricultural yield
- Green Revolution increased the per hectare yield in the case of wheat from 850 kg per hectare to an incredible 2281 kg/hectare in its early stage.
Self-sufficiency
- With the introduction of the Green revolution, India reached its way to self-sufficiency and was less dependent on imports.
- The production in the country was sufficient to meet the demand of the rising population and to stock it for emergencies.
- Rather than depending on the import of food grains from other countries India started exporting its agricultural produce.
Rise in rural employment
- The tertiary industries such as transportation, irrigation, food processing, marketing, etc created employment opportunities for the workforce.
Commercial farming
- The Green Revolution in India majorly benefited the farmers of the country.
- Farmers not only survived but also prospered during the revolution their income saw a significant rise which enabled them to shift from sustenance farming to commercial farming.
Negative Impact of Green Revolution in India
- Retardation of agricultural growth due to inadequate irrigation cover, shrinking farm size, failure to evolve new technologies, inadequate use of technology, declining plan outlay, unbalanced use of inputs, and weaknesses in credit delivery system.
- Regional dispersal of the evolution created regional inequalities.
- The benefits of the green revolution remained concentrated in the areas where the new technology was used.
- Moreover, since the revolution for the number of years remained limited to wheat production, its benefits were mostly accrued only to wheat-growing areas.
- Interpersonal inequalities between large and small scale farmers.
- The new technologies introduced during the revolution called for substantial investments which were beyond the means of a majority of small farmers.
- Farmers having large farmlands continued to make greater absolute gains in income by reinvesting the earnings in farm and non-farm assets, purchasing land from the smaller cultivators, etc.