5 – The Green Revolution

A great turn in the war against hunger occurred after the Second World War.  There was a great increase in production of food grains that resulted in large part from the introduction into developing countries of new, high-yielding varieties of wheat, rice and other crops.  The revolution’s early dramatic successes were seen in Mexico and the Indian subcontinent (see chart).  The new varieties require large amounts of chemical fertilizers and pesticides to produce their high yields, raising concerns about cost and potentially harmful environmental effects. 

Poor farmers, unable to afford the fertilizers and pesticides, have often reaped even lower yields with these grains than with older strains, which were better adapted to local conditions and had some resistance to pests and diseases.