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.

Technologies

The Green Revolution technologies broadly fall into two major categories. The first is the breeding of new plant varieties; the second is the application of modern agricultural techniques in new areas.

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Hybrid strains

Most crops consumed by the public-at-large in industrialized nations are Green Revolution crops. The design of high yielding varieties or hybrid strains (so called because they were created by cross-breeding a broad range of varieties to produce the desired combination of characteristics in a single variety, although random mutagenesis was also used) was motivated by a desire to, first, increase crop yield, and also to increase durability for transport and longevity for storage. Norin 10 wheat is an example of such a strain that helped developing countries, such as India and Pakistan to increase the productivity of their crops. Since then, strains have been bred for better appearance (e.g. plumper tomatoes, or straighter, more evenly-coloured rows of maize (corn)).

Related Topics:
High yielding varieties - Cross-breeding - Random mutagenesis - Norin 10 wheat - India - Pakistan - Tomatoes - Maize (corn)

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Since improved crop yield was produced mostly through the use of heavy fossil fuel inputs (discussed below), the increased efficiency of Green Revolution strains is geared towards these inputs; that is, the strains are more efficient at exploiting the chemical fertilizers used, and also are designed to be easier to harvest mechanically.

Related Topics:
Fossil fuel - Chemical fertilizer

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The artificial monsoon came in the form of huge irrigation facilities. Dams were built to arrest large volumes of natural monsoon water which were earlier being wasted. Simple irrigation techniques were also adopted.

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Agricultural techniques

The techniques introduced to the developing world by the Green Revolution are, roughly:

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• Extensive use of chemical fertilizers — Every plant basically relies on several basic compounds in order to grow. Primary is nitrogen need. Only in the nitrate form can plants absorb the nitrogen they require, with the exception of rice, which can absorb ammonium nitrogen as well. Certain microorganisms found in the soil are able to convert atmospheric nitrogen into the nitrate form plants can use. Also, some biological nitrogen fixation can take place by microorganisms living in small nodules on the roots of certain plants, such as legumes. Phosphates are also important, as well as numerous trace elements. Soil pH (acidity or alkalinity) must also be adjusted to the optimal conditions for the crop in question. Previously proper soil conditions had relied only on techniques such as crop rotation, mixing of crops, or organic fertilizers like horse manure. The major development of the Green Revolution in this field was the use of chemical fertilizers to adjust the soil pH balance and achieve the right levels of all the important chemical compounds needed for the plant to grow.
• Irrigation — Although it has been in use in agriculture for thousands of years, the Green Revolution further developed irrigation methods to allow for more efficient irrigation. It was possible to have more than one harvest per year with reduced dependence on monsoon seasons.
• Use of heavy machinery — Mechanized harvesters and other machinery were not new to agriculture — the McCormick reaper was developed in the nineteenth century — but the Green Revolution allowed a drastic reduction in the input of human labor to agriculture by extending the use of machinery to automate every possible agricultural process.
• Pesticides and herbicides — The development of chemical pesticides and herbicides (including organochlorine and organophosphate compounds) allowed further improvements in crop yields by allowing for efficient weed control (by use of herbicide early in the growing season) and eradication of insect pests.