Green Revolution and its Impacts on Food Security

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Green Revolution and its Impacts on Food
Security

• Russell Freed
• Professor, International Agronomy

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Agricultural SystemsTraditional Modern

• Mixed Cropping
• Low Inputs
• Hand Labor
• Subsistence/Risk Aversion
• Traditional practices

• Monoculture
• High Inputs
• Mechanized
• Market Oriented
• Scientific ag

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Innovation and Importance of Agriculture

• U.S. Food Production 252 million tons/year in
  1960 to current 650 m. tons/year with 25 million
  fewer acres
• Corn Yields up from 26 bushels/acre (1928) to 136
  today
• U.S. farmer in 1940 fed 19 people, feeds 140
  today
• 2 of Americans are Farmers
• Average 10 of Income on Food

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Increase Ag Production

• Irrigation
• Fertilizer (1850)
• Genetics (1860)
• Hybrid corn (1920)
• Green Revolution (1965)

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Most Important Agriculture Events in the Last 50
Years

• Breeding new cultivars
• GMOs
• Watson and Crick (DNA)
• Green Revolution

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Norman Borlaug
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Green RevolutionSeed and Fertilizer Technologies

• Short Stature Non-lodging
• Nitrogen Responsive
• Early maturing
• Photo-period insensitive
• High-yielding wheat and rice

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Pesticide application Pest
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Hectares planted to GreenRevolution Rice -
Wheat

• 1965/66 14,000
• 1970/71 9.6 M.
• 1977/78 28 M.
• 1982/83 69 M.

• 12,000
• 9.7 M.
• 21 M.
• 34 M.

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Problems with the Green Revolution

• Production practices different
• Infrastructure problems credit-inputs
• Land values rose
• Nutritional issues
• Genetic uniformity pests
• Poor eating quality
• Biggest Did NOT alleviate Hunger/Poverty

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Generalizations of the Green Revolution

• Varieties adapted to good areas
• Scale neutral technology
• Increased labor demand
• Widened the gap rich/poor
• Kept food prices low
• Variety/fertilizer explain difference
• Increased pest problems

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Criticism of the Green Revolution

• Favored Rich Farmers
• Reduced Labor Demand
• Expensive Inputs
• Over use of Pesticides/Fertilizer
• Reduced Diversity of Crops

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Land, People and Food Percent Changes from 1966-
1999
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Annual Growth in Cereal Yields
196782, 198294, and 19952020 (FAO)
3
Percent per year
196782
198294
19952020
2
1
0
Developing
World
Developed
countries
countries
.
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We are farmers. All of our rice fields are gone
and our vegetables and fruit gardens as well. We
only managed to save one of the buffaloes. I
have 4 grandchildren with me here, the oldest is
six. But we lost people. Women in camp near
Banda Ache
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Impacts on Agriculture

• Loss of human life
• General disruption, labor
• Destruction of crops/trees/fish
• Destruction of soil
• Top soil, salinity, debris
• Death of animals
• Power, savings, nutrition
• Destruction of infrastructure
• Roads, fertilizer, seed, irrigation

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Impacts, continued

• Destruction of fishing industry
• Boats, nets, coral reefs
• Destruction of storage facilities
• Land ownership at issue
• Intrusion of salt water
• Fields, drinking and tube wells,
• Increase/spread of disease
• Plant and animal

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Poverty Hunger Poverty

• Impairs cognitive and physical development
• More disease
• Hidden hunger
• Our failure to end hunger
• is one of our biggest
• moral blind spots.

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Sustainable Development

• Human capital
• Technologies
• Policies
• Institutions
• Equity, Justice and Growth

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Future Food Security Issues

• Population growth urbanization
• Economic growth
• New technologies
• Environment (water)
• Trade

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