Green Revolution

The Green Revolution is the process of technological development of agricultural techniques that began in the northern Mexican state of Sonora in 1944 and has since spread throughout the world. The goal of the Green Revolution was to increase the efficiency of agricultural processes so that the productivity of the crops was increased, and to help developing countries face their growing populations' needs.

History

The revolution began in 1944 when the Rockefeller Foundation and the Mexican government established the Cooperative Wheat Research and Production Program to improve the agricultural output of the country's farms. Norman Borlaug was instrumental in this program. This produced astounding results, so that Mexico went from having to import half its wheat to self-sufficiency by 1956 and, by 1964, to exporting half a million tons of wheat. This program was continued in India and Pakistan where it is credited with saving over one billion people from starvation. Norman Borlaug won the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.

Related Topics:
1944 - Rockefeller Foundation - Cooperative Wheat Research and Production Program - Norman Borlaug - 1956 - 1964

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From there, the technologies were exported abroad, finding use in regions all over the world. The success in increasing yields was undisputable. The growth of crop yields was such that agriculture was now able to outstrip population growth — per capita production increased every year following 1950.

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The use of genetic engineering in agriculture to create genetically modified foods is viewed by some as the natural continuation of the Green Revolution.

Related Topics:
Genetic engineering - Genetically modified foods

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