When “Green Revolution” agriculture was introduced in developing nations in the 1950s and 1960s it was sold as a strategy for the agricultural abundance that would lead to agrarian peace. The basics of the method were that hybrid seeds of wheat and rice, when combined with high levels of fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides (biocides), mechanical tillage and water, gave much higher yields per acre for these crops. Although production levels for wheat and rice did increase, these replaced mixed farming methods that used diverse crops of great nutritional or other value to the local population often grown in rotation, and the production of these other crops decreased. A few seed varieties replaced thousands of seed and other crop varieties, and with fewer seed varieties, these crops became more prone to insect attacks and other plant competitions (who themselves mutated and became more resistant under the chemical warfare) so that larger quantities of pesticides and herbicides needed to be applied, and the monocultures of crops made entire crops prone to disease and insect attacks. The high levels of chemical fertilizer use also increased the bulk of the crop but made them more prone to insect attacks and competition from other plants.
Although the seeds were called “High Yielding Varieties” (HYVs), the yield were actually lower than for indigenous seed varieties if the other inputs were not applied. As Vandana Shiva had pointed out*, these should really have been called High Response Varieties (HRVs), as they responded more to increases in chemical fertilizer and water. Overall, although the yield per acre was higher, the productivity in terms of efficiency of fertilizer and water use was lower. Also, since the crops needed more energy for pumping water and diesel for running tractors, there was actually more energy going into the crops and less coming out as calories, even with the added solar energy.
The next stage of seed development of genetically modified crops is a further step in this wrong direction. All of this has been immensely profitable to the local and multi-national agri-business companies that supply fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides, large agricultural equipment (tractors and combines), and seeds. These companies financially buy off the politicians, dominate the financial institutions and banks, and dominate the agricultural universities, which are forced to do further research to sustain this damaging form of agriculture.
The high levels of tillage also meant that the soils became more prone to wind and water erosion (especially during monsoons), the biocides killed the organisms and insects in the soil that worked to help the farmer, decreased the carbon and organic content of the soil, and the attempt to get higher yields with increased chemical fertilizer use, exhausted the fertility of the soil. **
When the Green Revolution was new, the profitability of farmers that adopted it was kept artificially high by subsidizing the inputs (fertilizer, biocides, seeds and water), but as the practice generated surpluses that depressed prices, minimum support prices (MSPs) were introduced to make sure that farmers got some minimum amount for their crops and did not abandon this kind of agriculture, and so that the state could ensure stable prices for covered crops to its urban population. Since Punjab’s output created India’s early surplus of wheat and rice, which was urgently needed by the Indian government to keep prices low for the urban population and hence buy urban peace, this whole process was politically and financially supported by the Central government. But then as the subsidies were reduced and increasing pest resistance and decreasing soil fertility meant that more of these were needed to maintain yields, farmers started to become bankrupt and the whole form of agriculture became uneconomical, leading to massive growth in farmer suicides.
The high level of water use was initially sustained by surface water from Punjab’s rivers, but as more and more water was diverted and given for free to other states, and electricity for tube wells was given free, farmers started to pump more and more groundwater, so that levels started to go down and this has become a crisis that can turn Punjab into a desert, especially when the glaciers are all melted due to climate change and there will be no water in summer. The excessive water used for rice production also greatly increased water use and since rice was not consumed locally, did not benefit the Punjabi or local consumer. Excessive irrigation by flooding fields also led to waterlogging and the growth of salination of soils. Attempts by Punjab to get greater control of its water were met with a violent reaction from the central government.
The mechanization of agriculture meant that fewer people were needed in agriculture, which led to massive unemployment, leading to a financial and social crisis. The high level of pesticide and herbicide use meant that groundwater became more contaminated with these poisonous chemicals, which in turn led to Punjab’s cancer epidemic. The lower production of good nutritious and diverse food for the consumption of the local population had a bad effect on the health of people.
In all ways, so-called “Green Revolution” agriculture has been neither green nor revolutionary but instead has done violence to Punjab’s social, financial, human health and environmental well-being. It is time that we put the governments, agri-business, and the agricultural universities on notice that we expect them to transition away from “green revolution” agriculture, stop supporting it, and begin support through research and financially and through extension services, the more organic and natural farming methods that are actually more bio-scientific, and deal with encouraging the living organisms in the soil, plants, and trees. The Mandis of Punjab need to become enabled to handle a greater level of crop varieties in each crop, especially of indigenous and non-hybrid types. Only in this way can Punjab and the other “green revolution” dominated areas of India get out of its nightmare and restore its social, economic, human health and environmental well-being, help local consumers get cleaner and more nutritious food, and help genuinely increase farmer’s incomes directly and through the growth of local processing of agricultural products.
*” Vandana Shiva, 1991, “The Violence of the Green Revolution – Third World Agriculture, Ecology and Politics”, London and New Jersey, Zed Books, and Penang, Malaysia, Third World Network.
**Harinder S. Lamba, 2005, “Rethinking Progress – Towards a Creative Transformation of Global Society”, Daanish Books, New Delhi.