Trends in Agriculture: The Green Revolution

The former director of the United States Agency for International Development named William Gaud was the first person to use the term ‘Green Revolution’ in the year 1968. He used this term to explain the development in the agricultural sector. The green revolution was a large-scale collective effort to improve the quality of yield of different crops and vegetables and make every place where the population was growing, become self-sufficient. Many new technology-driven methods were implemented that helped the agricultural sector in many ways and most of them were able to bring in positive changes. The green revolution also reached India and started a nationwide revolution in the field of agriculture. However, not all states were lucky enough to get the benefits of the green revolution as only a handful of the Indian states at that time got better exposure and benefitted more compared to some other states. Like, Punjab was selected by the government of India for trying out new methods and crops due to its agricultural advantages like water reliability, availability of large fields, etc. Overall, the green revolution kickstarted in India in the late 60s and early 70s.

Green Revolution in India

The introduction of the green revolution in India was extremely important for the development of the country and it has played a huge role in shaping the country and making it what it is today. India has always been a country where agriculture is very dominant and enjoys many climatic conditions in different parts of the country so, a huge quantity and variety of crops are grown all year round. Some of the major steps that were adopted to start the green revolution in India are:

1. Usage of high-yielding variety (HYV) seeds.
2. Adopting the different processes of irrigation.
3. Usage of insecticides.
4. Use of pesticides.
5. Land reforms.
6. Supply of agricultural credit to the farmers.
7. Improvement of the infrastructure in rural families.
8. Use of chemical fertilizers.
9. Use of popular irrigation practices like drip irrigation and sprinklers.

All these practices were extremely important for improving the condition of the then Indian agricultural scenario. Because of the above-mentioned practices, the production level increased, the quality of crops increased, more areas came under agriculture due to irrigational practices in dry areas, and the lives of the farmers also improved.

Father of Green Revolution in India

S. Swaminathan is known as the father of the green revolution in India. He was responsible for the introduction of many prominent steps in the country that improved the agricultural scenario completely and guided India to head towards self-sufficiency in terms of food.

Importance of Green Revolution

The green revolution in India had both negative and positive reviews. But, if we look at the bigger picture, there is no denying that the overall importance of the green revolution was immense and without the green revolution, India could have never become self-sufficient and used its full potential as far as the agricultural sector is concerned. Some of the major prospects of the green revolution to show its importance of it are as follows:

1. An overall increase in agricultural production- Due to the use of HYV seeds and the use of irrigation practices in drier areas where previously, it was impossible to cultivate crops, the overall production of crops in India increased a lot. More and more areas came under agricultural practices and more people got involved directly or indirectly with the agricultural sector. India was able to support its growing population thanks to the revolutionary works done in this field.
2. Improvement of the lives of the farmers- As production increased and machines were more used, the lives of the farmers improved a lot. The land reforms also played a very pivotal part in this.
3. Self-sufficiency in food grains- As far as food grains are concerned, today India is self-sufficient.
4. Upgradation of the industrial sector- Due to the up-gradation of the agricultural sector, the industrial sector also developed during that time. Demand for more machinery and manufacturing industries grew more and more due to the green revolution. Thus, it resulted in the economic development of India.

Conclusion

The green revolution has been truly revolutionary and brought in many positive changes in India by using many new methods and technology. Although not all states benefited at first, slowly and steadily, other states have also benefited and have made a self-sufficient country (at present) and resulting in the economic development of India.