AN INTRODUCTION TO THE “GREEN REVOLUTION”
Green Revolution refers to a series of research, development, and technology transfer initiatives, occurring between the 1940s and the late 1960s, that increased agriculture production worldwide, particularly in the developing world, beginning most markedly in the late 1960s. The initiatives, led by Norman Borlaug, the "Father of the Green Revolution" credited with saving over a billion people from starvation and the dangerous outcomes of droughts and famine, he was involved in the development of high-yielding varieties of cereal grains, expansion of irrigation infrastructure, modernization of management techniques, distribution of hybridized seeds, synthetic fertilizers and pesticides to farmers.
NORMAN E. BORLAUG (HE AND HIS TEAM OF SCIENTISTS STARTED THE GREEN REVOLUTION).
History of green revolution
In 1961 India was on the brink of mass famine. Borlaug was invited to India by the adviser to the Indian minister of agriculture C.SUBRAMANIAM. Despite bureaucratic hurdles imposed by India's grain monopolies, The Ford Foundation and Indian government collaborated import wheat seed from CIMMYT. Punjab was selected by the Indian government to be the first site to try the new crops because of its reliable water supply and a history of agricultural success. India began its own Green Revolution program of plant breeding, irrigation development, and financing of agrochemicals. India soon adopted IR8 – a semi-dwarf Rice variety developed by the International Rice Research Institute(IRRI) that could produce more grains of rice per plant when grown with certain fertilizers and irrigation. In 1968, Indian agronomist S.K. De Datta published his findings that IR8 rice yielded about 5 tons per hectare with no fertilizer, and almost 10 tons per hectare under optimal conditions. This was 10 times the yield of traditional rice. IR8 was a success throughout Asia, and dubbed the "Miracle Rice". IR8 was also developed