Green Revolution

Topic: Land Reforms, the Green Revolution and Farm Subsidies · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 2 "Indian Economy 1950-1990"; Class 11, Ch 3 "Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation: An Appraisal"; Class 11, Ch 5 "Rural Development"; Class 11, Ch 7 "Environment and Sustainable Development"; Class 11, Ch 8 "Comparative Development Experiences of India and its Neighbours"

Meaning

The Green Revolution was a large rise in India's food-grain output, mainly of wheat and rice. It came from sowing high-yielding variety (HYV) seeds together with chemical fertiliser, pesticide and assured irrigation. It began with the import of Mexican wheat seeds in 1965-66 and the High Yielding Varieties Programme of 1966.

• Why it matters: India changed from a country that depended on food aid to one that was self-sufficient in food by 1971 [3].
• It also shaped today's farm policy. MSP, procurement, the paddy-wheat cycle and the farm-subsidy debate all go back to it.
• Key formula: Crop yield = Output ÷ Area (in kg or tonnes per hectare).

Explanation

Why India needed it

• Colonial legacy: Farm output did not grow during colonial rule, and yields per hectare stayed low (NCERT, Class 11, ch. 1).
• Food dependence: After 1947, India still imported food. Most of it came as US aid under PL-480.
• Crisis: Two droughts, in 1965-66 and 1966-67, made the shortage worse.
• The name: William Gaud of USAID first used the term "Green Revolution" in 1968.

The HYV package: a seed that needs partners

• HYV seeds are seeds bred to give a much higher yield per hectare than traditional seeds.
• They work only when other inputs are also present:
• the right doses of chemical fertiliser;
• pesticide, because HYV crops are more easily attacked by pests;

• assured irrigation, which means water every time the crop needs it, not only when it rains.

• NCERT says that using these inputs "in correct proportions is vital".

• Why short (semi-dwarf) stems matter:
• With more fertiliser, the ear of grain becomes heavy.
• A tall traditional plant then falls over. This is called lodging, and it ruins the crop.

• A short, stiff stem keeps the heavy grain upright, so the plant can turn more fertiliser into grain.

• Worked example (crop yield): 40 tonnes of wheat from 10 ha gives a yield of 40 ÷ 10 = 4 t/ha.

Where the seeds came from

• Wheat:
• Norman Borlaug bred semi-dwarf wheat in Mexico. He is called the "father of the Green Revolution" and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 [4].

• India imported his varieties Lerma Rojo 64-A and Sonora 64 in 1965-66.

• Rice: IR8 ("miracle rice") came from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines. It was released in 1966.

• Scale-up in India: In 1966, M.S. Swaminathan persuaded the government to buy 18,000 tons of Mexican high-yielding seeds [3]. Britannica treats this as the birth of India's Green Revolution [3].

Multiple cropping: more crops from the same land

• Multiple cropping means growing two or more crops on the same field in one year.
• How the Green Revolution made this possible:
• HYVs ripen faster, so the field is free sooner.
• Irrigation means farmers no longer depend only on the monsoon.
• Farm mechanisation (tractors, threshers, pumpsets) makes sowing and harvest faster.

• The result in Punjab-Haryana was kharif paddy followed by rabi wheat, often with a zaid (short summer) crop as well.

• Cropping intensity = (GCA ÷ NSA) × 100

• Net sown area (NSA) counts a field once, however many times it is sown in the year.
• Gross cropped area (GCA) counts a field each time it is sown.
• Worked example: NSA = 100 ha, and 60 ha of it is sown twice. GCA = 100 + 60 = 160 ha. Cropping intensity = 160 ÷ 100 × 100 = 160%.

In India

• Indian architects:
• M.S. Swaminathan was the scientist. He tested the Mexican wheats under Indian conditions and found them high-yielding and disease-resistant [3]. He is called the "father of India's Green Revolution" [3].

• C. Subramaniam was Union Agriculture Minister from 1964 to 1967. He gave the political push to import seed and to build support institutions.

• Programmes, in order:

Programme	Year	What it did
IADP (Intensive Agricultural District Programme)	1961	Gave credit, seed, fertiliser and extension together as a package in a few selected districts, using traditional seeds
IAAP (Intensive Agricultural Areas Programme)	1964	Took the intensive approach to more areas
HYVP (High Yielding Varieties Programme)	Kharif 1966	Spread HYV seeds along with their full input package

• Institutions behind it:
• ICAR is the apex body for farm research and education.
• State agricultural universities (SAUs) follow the US land-grant model, which puts teaching, research and extension in one university. Pantnagar (1960) was the first, and PAU Ludhiana (1962) came next.
• National Seeds Corporation (1963) multiplies breeder seed into large amounts and distributes it.
• FCI (1965) buys grain from farmers (procurement), stores it and supplies it to the PDS.
• Agricultural Prices Commission (1965), now the CACP, recommends MSP. A guaranteed price gave farmers the confidence to spend money on costly inputs.

• Rural electrification powered tubewells, which gave HYVs the assured irrigation they need.

• Results then:

• Wheat output rose from 12 million tons (1964) to 20 million tons (1970) [3].
• India was self-sufficient in food by 1971 [3].

• By the late 1970s, India was one of the world's largest farm producers [3].

• Latest figures:

• Food-grain output reached a record 357.73 million tonnes in 2024-25. This included record rice output of 150.18 million tonnes and record wheat output of 117.95 million tonnes [5].
• Cropping intensity rose from 111% in 1950-51 [2] to 155.4% in 2021-22 [6].
• NSA has stayed at about 140 million ha [2][6]. Land has stopped growing, so growth must come from yields and cropping intensity.

Don't confuse with

• IADP (1961) vs HYVP (1966): IADP gave a package of inputs for traditional seeds and came before HYVs arrived. HYVP is the programme that spread HYV seeds.
• Norman Borlaug vs M.S. Swaminathan: Borlaug is the "father of the Green Revolution" worldwide and bred wheat in Mexico [4]. Swaminathan is the "father of India's Green Revolution" [3]. Neither of them coined the term. William Gaud did, in 1968.
• Swaminathan vs C. Subramaniam: Swaminathan was the scientist. Subramaniam was the Agriculture Minister (1964-67).
• Net sown area vs gross cropped area: NSA counts a double-cropped field once. GCA counts it twice. A Green Revolution state can raise GCA without adding any new land.

Prelims Hooks

• Wheat, the star crop of the Green Revolution, is a rabi crop, sown Oct-Dec. Rice is a kharif crop, sown with the south-west monsoon in June-July.
• IR8 rice came from IRRI, Philippines (1966). Lerma Rojo 64-A and Sonora 64 were Borlaug's Mexican wheats.
• Correct order: IADP 1961 → IAAP 1964 → HYVP kharif 1966.
• FCI and the APC were both set up in 1965. The APC is now the CACP. National Seeds Corporation: 1963. First SAU: Pantnagar, 1960.
• Semi-dwarf stems prevent lodging, which is the plant falling over under the weight of grain when heavy fertiliser is used.
• Seed replacement rate = (area sown with certified or quality seed ÷ total area under the crop) × 100. Farm-saved HYV seed loses strength and purity over time, so a higher SRR gives more of the full HYV yield.

Mains Points

• It was a package, not just a seed, and that explains both its success and its limits.
• HYVs needed fertiliser, irrigation, credit, MSP and procurement all together. This gave food self-sufficiency by 1971 [3] and record output of 357.73 million tonnes in 2024-25 [5].
• The same package meant that farmers with larger holdings, tubewells and credit adopted HYVs first. Small and rain-fed farmers were left behind at first.

• Punjab, Haryana and western UP moved ahead of other regions. This widened inequality between farmers and between regions.

• The paddy-wheat cycle now has a cost to the environment.

• MSP, free power and fertiliser subsidies keep Punjab-Haryana locked into double-cropping paddy and wheat.
• This drains groundwater, damages soil and leads to stubble burning.

• This links to the GS-III debate on crop diversification and farm-subsidy reform.

• A "second Green Revolution" must raise output from each hectare.

• NSA is stuck at about 140 million ha [2][6], so growth must come from higher yields and cropping intensity (155.4% in 2021-22 [6]).
• This needs more irrigation, short-duration varieties, a higher seed replacement rate, and renewed research and extension. Research means creating new seeds and methods. Extension means taking that knowledge to farmers. NCERT notes that government spending on both fell after the 1991 reforms.
• Eastern and rain-fed India need the same state capacity that ICAR, the SAUs, NSC, FCI and the APC provided in the 1960s.

Related concepts

• High-yielding variety seeds
• Research and extension
• Farm mechanisation
• Crop yield
• Seed replacement rate
• Kharif crops
• Rabi crops
• Zaid crops
• Multiple cropping
• Net sown area

Read more

• The Green Revolution: the HYV package, institutions and the crop calendar