In the 1960s?the time of one of the worst food crises in India?it had seemed that the Malthusian theory was correct and the country?s population was exceeding its ability to feed its citizens. With the threat of famine looming large on the country, the government solicited help from abroad. It imported huge quantities of grain from the US. This was followed by import of new varieties of wheat and grain to be grown in India?s soil. The green revolution meant development of higher-yielding seeds and unprecedented expansion in the use of irrigation, fertilisers and pesticides in developing countries. Norman Borlaug, the father of green revolution, brought Indo-US ties to a new level. Borlaug, who died on Saturday, was often credited with saving over a billion people worldwide from starvation.
Borlaug, a Norwegian-American born in Iowa, received his PhD in plant pathology and genetics in 1942 and took up an agricultural research position in Mexico. By cranking up a wheat strain containing an unusual gene, he created the so-called ?semi-dwarf? plant variety which led to Mexico becoming a net exporter of wheat in 1963. World food production more than doubled between 1960 and 1990 and in Pakistan and India, two of the nations that benefited most from the new crop varieties, grain yields more than quadrupled over the period. He was one of the only five people in history to score the feat of winning the Nobel Peace Prize, the US Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. Yet, he was barely known in the country of his birth. Agriculture in India is not an occupation but rather it?s a way of life as more than 65% of the population is directly employed in it. It may contribute only 17% to GDP but the challenges faced by it are as gigantic as faced by physical infrastructure. Green revolution had created a sense of elation that we have resolved our production problem. But, now we have reached a plateau in production and productivity. There is a dire need to follow a multidimensional approach towards agriculture. Indeed, what is now required is a second green revolution to increase productivity and take people out of low returns farm jobs. We need another Borlaug-like inspiration.
?jaya.jumrani@expressindia.com