LECTURE GEOG 270 Fall 2007 November 7, 2007 Joe Hannah, PhD Department of Geography University of Washington

Intro to the Green Revolution “Feeding the Third World” with High Yield Varieties (HYVs) of Staple Crops

The “Green Revolution” ► Refers to the movement from the Western industrialized nations to attempt to raise agricultural productivity in the Third World through technical means ► Accomplished through the development of new types of staple crops and new agricultural practices

Malthusian Premise To “feed the world,” we need to raise per capita food production. ► While we work on reducing fertility, we can also increase food production ► Remember the context of the 1960s:  Erhlich’s Population Bomb  “Modernization” and the promise of technology

Scientific Solution: HYVs ► Plant Breeding Approach ► HYV Characteristics:  large-yield,  dwarf stock,  disease and pest resistant (among other things) ► Hybrid crops – can’t collect seeds

Dwarf Wheat Varieties

Losses from Lodging

Top-down Approach ► Started by Governments and Foundations (like Rockefeller), ► later largely financed by WB, UN (FAO, UNDP, UNEP) ► Set up plant breading and other research projects to determine “best” way to increase productivity per acre

IRRI and CIMMYT International Centre for Maize and Wheat Improvement (CIMMYT) International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)

Some Assumptions ► Local crop varieties “primitive,” ► Local farmers “backward,” ► HYVs will increase farm incomes and reduce food prices, ► Benefits for all

Some Effects of the Green Revolution

Effects: Increased Reliance on Chemical Inputs “Because farming methods that depend heavily on chemical fertilizers do not maintain the soil's natural fertility and because pesticides generate resistant pests, farmers need ever more fertilizers and pesticides just to achieve the same results.” (sos-arsenic.net)

Effects: Increased Need for Irrigation

Effects: Greater Mechanization

Some More Effects ► Input-dependent, so expensive (seeds, water, chemical fertilizer & pesticides, mechanization) ► Higher yields (for farmers who could afford everything) ► Monocultures: Reduction in crop diversity  increased farmer risk ► Increased reliance on loans and debt-based farming ► Consolidation of smallholdings – farmers lost their land

Film: The Revolution and Beyond