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Unit 12: Green Revolution

of nitrogen for the next crop. The great break-through in nitrogen generation by micro-organisms, Notes
for which the bill is paid by nature, is a great advance in agricultural research that promises a
second green revolution.
With new bio-technology, for algae, the cost of inoculant at the rate of 10 kg./ha. is around ` 20
and its nitrogen contribution in terms of fertilizer is ` 200-400 per hectare. If agricultural
production is encouraged on these lines, it has the potential to generate income to the farmers
of the order of ` 5,000—7,500 from one hectare of land through sale of the produce. The new
bio-technology is, therefore, the answer to the problems of the small farmers in cutting down
their costs of fertilizer use.
Whereas bio-technology in fertilizers has been successfully exploited in developed countries,
several factors have hampered its use and propagation in India. They are : lack of trained
personnel, lack of appreciation of the benefits of innoculation and absence of industrial support.
The Ministry of Agriculture of the Government of India is sponsoring national projects on these
subjects. This should give a major thrust in agricultural development in future.
(vi) Emphasis should shift to dry farming : Out of total cultivated area of 163 million hectares in
India, dry farming is carried on in 100 million hectares i.e. in 60 per cent of the total arable land.
But the contribution of dry land farming to agricultural production is less than 30 per cent.
There is no doubt that irrigation has brought about national self-sufficiency in foodgrains, but
the gap between the rich and the poor farmers has widened because of the use of irrigation.
About two-thirds of dryland farmers own less than two hectares and even this is available in
scattered and fragmented holdings. Since the country has to carry on with dryland farming for
many years to come, it is vitally necessary that dry-farming technology be developed, so that the
possibilities of raising the potential output of vast dry-land areas be exploited. For this purpose,
problems of different dryland areas have to be studied and region-specific technology have to be
developed. Moderate use of fertilizers, improved seeds and better conservation of rain water and
its judicious use can contribute to 40 to 50 per cent increase in yields in rain-fed areas.
12.3 Green Revolution—The Future Prospects

Green Revolution initiated in the 1960’s centered around the use of semi-dwarf high yielding varieties
responsive to irrigation and chemical fertilizers yielded good results in giving a big boost to the
production of wheat in the first stage and the production of rice in the next stage. But more recently,
it has been felt that high-yielding varieties have reached a plateau and the scope for future increase in
production appears to be very limited. In other words, the seed-water-fertilizer technology has
probably exhausted its potential and is now at a point of diminishing returns.
The Planning Commission set a target of foodgrains production of the order of 300 million tonnes by
2007-08 but the actual production was 216 million tonnes. The question raised is : What are the
prospects of realising this target ?
Some like Harish Damodaran do not subscribe to the view that agricultural production has reached
a plateau.
Table 6 : Average Foodgrain Yield

Kgs per
1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s

Foodgrains 719 894 1,156 1,490
Wheat 950 1,382 1,921 2,449
Rice 1,000 1,158 1,470 l,827

* Advanced estimates for 2008-09.
Source : Harish Damodaran, Green Revolution Fatig Business Line, May 27 & 28, 1999.
Economic Survey : 2009-10, Agricultural Statistics Glance 2010.

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