10.3.4

Increasing Farm Output

Test yourself

The Green Revolution

The Green Revolution was a new type of agriculture to improve yields that started in the 1960s.

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How it happened

  • The Green Revolution started after a food shortage in India and the surrounding countries, where overpopulation was becoming a problem.
  • Heavy/High Yield Variety (HYV) seeds started being used.
  • Crops such as wheat, rice, sorghum, millet and maize were made resistant to drought, more susceptible to fertiliser and made to have a shorter growing season (so there would be more crops per year).
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Benefits

  • Yields per hectare at least doubled and, in some cases, yields quadrupled.
  • Farmers could buy more things for their farm (e.g. seeds, machinery) with their increased incomes.
  • Diets improved as more than one type of crop could be grown.
  • There was an increase in employment in places that supplied farm tools and fertilisers.
  • More money was available to invest in irrigation. Routes to market were improved because they built better roads.
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Problems

  • HYVs need more nutrition (e.g. fertilisers) to grow, which can be expensive.
  • Because lots of farmers had surplus (leftover) produce, the prices had to be lowered.
  • Environmental issues can result from the use of herbicides or weed control, which HYVs need.
  • HYVs have been said to be tasteless compared with natural crops.
  • The poorest farmers haven’t actually benefited that much, whereas the middle-income farmers have.
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Problems today

  • While the Green Revolution was successful in 1960, we now have many more people in the world and food shortages are still a global problem.

Jump to other topics

1Paper 1 - Changing River Environnments

2Paper 1 - Changing Coastal Environments

3Paper 1 - Changing Ecosystems

4Paper 1 - Tectonic Hazards

5Paper 1 - Climate Change

6Paper 2 - Changing Populations

7Paper 2 - Changing Towns & Cities

8Paper 2 - Development

9Paper 2 - Changing Economies

10Paper 2 - Resource Provision

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