Paper 2 – Section C – Social Changes in India
(ii) Rural and Agrarian transformation in India:
- Programmes of rural development, Community Development Programme, cooperatives, poverty alleviation schemes.
- Green revolution and social change.
- Changing modes of production in Indian agriculture.
- Problems of rural labour, bondage, migration.
INTRODUCTION
The Green Revolution in India started in the late 1960s. This was the first wave, and its success allowed India to attain food self-sufficiency by the end of the 1970s. However, in this first wave the application of new technologies, consisting mainly of high-yielding varieties (HYVs), was confined to the wheat crop in the northwest – including Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh – and in a small part of the deltaic region of peninsular India. The first wave failed to raise incomes more broadly across the country’s regions. The second Green Revolution wave reached India in the 1980s. It involved a range of crops, including rice and coarse cereals such as maize, jowar (sorghum) and bajra (pearl millet). The latter are important staple foods in some parts of central, western and southern India. The second Green Revolution wave covered a large percentage of the country, and as a result contributed to improving rural incomes, alleviating rural poverty across the country, and fostering India’s economic development.
WHAT IS GREEN REVOLUTION ?
The term ‘Green Revolution’ refers to the new agricultural technology developed during the 1950s and 1960s by a team of agricultural experts at the International Centre for Maize and Wheat Improvement in Mexico and at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Philippines. Green revolution refers to a process that increases the production of food grains using the high-yielding varieties, fertilizers, pesticides, and modern equipment and technology. Norman Borlaug in Mexico developed high-yielding varieties of wheat that were resistant to diseases like rust. It increased wheat production by three times within three years. Green revolution in India refers to a period when agriculture production was increased tremendously using high-yielding varieties and modern tools and techniques such as tractors, pesticides, fertilizers, irrigation facilities, etc.
MEANING AND SIGNIFICANCE OF GREEN REVOLUTION
The word ‘revolution’ implies two things:
i) a fast change in some phenomenon, the change being so fast that it is well marked; and
ii) the impact of the change is felt over a fairly long period of time bringing about certain fundamental changes.
When we add the prefix ‘Green’ (the colour being symbolic of agriculture crops), to the word revolution and coin the phrase ‘Green Revolution’, it implies:
i) well-marked improvement in agricultural production in a short-period; and
ii) the sustenance of a higher level of agricultural production over a fairly long period of time.
POSITIVE IMPACTS
One of the most important impacts of green revolution (GR) was on raising the production and productivity of cereal crops, especially wheat and rice. The cereal production was increased due to three factors: (i) increase in net area under cultivation; (ii) growing two or more crops in a year on the same piece of land; and (iii) use of HYV seeds.
Critiques of Green Revolution argue that increased mechanization of farm practices in the green revolution regions reduced the employment absorption in agriculture. C. H. Hanumantha Rao, for instance, observed that GR technology in terms of ‘seeds-fertilizer-irrigation’ package had substantial positive impact on employment generation in agriculture but increased use of farm machines such as tractors contributed to a reduction in the employment generated. However, the use of tractor and other modern machines increased the aggregate level of employment by raising cropping intensity, farm productivity and changing cropping pattern.
The most important factor behind the success of green revolution in India is availability of assured irrigation. The advent of tube-well technology, especially in the Indo-Gangetic basin, made significant contribution to enhance the per hectare crop yields. The new agricultural strategy required public investment in agricultural infrastructure, including investment in agricultural research, extension, power, roads, irrigation, etc.
SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACTS
Smaller farmers often went into debt, which in many cases results in a loss of their farmland. The increased level of mechanization on larger farms made possible by the Green Revolution removed a large source of employment from the rural economy. Because wealthier farmers had better access to credit and land, the Green Revolution increased class disparities. The rich – poor gap widened due to that. Because some regions were able to adopt Green Revolution agriculture more readily than others (for political or geographical reasons), interregional economic disparities increased as well. Many small farmers
are hurt by the dropping prices resulting from increased production overall.
DISADVANTAGES
The Green Revolution has been criticized on several ways, mostly by environmental and critics of globalization. These criticisms can be in three categories:
Decline in agricultural quality
Concerns about the social implications of the Green Revolution
Broad concerns about the sustainability of Green Revolution and agricultural practices
SUMMARY
After a good start during the first two five year plans, agricultural output began to stagnate. Consequently, it became imperative to adopt a new strategy of growth. The new strategy of growth emphasised the adoption of ‘package of inputs’ approach in those areas that have demonstrated a high potential of growth. The new agricultural technology, i.e. HYV seeds, fertilisers, water technology, etc. brought about a phenomenal increase in agricultural production. The phenomenon came to be known as the Green Revolution. The Green Revolution came to result in widening of personal and regional inequalities. Moreover, the effect of this green revolution itself has been weakening in recent decades. There is therefore a need to adopt a new strategy to provide a further push to
agriculture.
