The Impact of the Green Revolution

As we discussed in the previous issue, the Green Revolution was a shift in the way the world did agriculture. Farming in India changed nearly overnight; desi varieties gave away to hybrid seeds from other countries, ox-pulled plows were replaced by tractors, Punjab became a network of of dams and canals, and natural methods became chemical. Now there are very few farmers who remember what life was like before chemicals, even though the Green Revolution occurred only a generation or two ago. We understand the Green Revolution occurred as a response to a critical shortage in food all over the country. And the general consensus is that these chemically driven practices made India self-sufficient. But did it? With the talks of launching a second “Green Revolution” in the central government, we must look at the Green Revolution in terms the impacts now, 40 years later. Yes, there was an increase in yields. But as discussed in the last newsletter, has the pressing issue of food security been resolved? And who has benefited?

The Environment: One could say the most devastating impacts of the Green Revolution have been on the environment. The practices introduced by the Green Revolution are not sustainable, and continue to contribute to environmental degradation. While Punjab is hailed as the bread basket of India, the farmers also bear enormous burdens and have sacrificed much to maintain the high yields. When the high yielding varieties were introduced in the area, they should have come with a disclaimer stating the seeds were only high yielding if and only if they were paired with a lot of chemicals and a lot of water. The fertility of the soil is burned away bit by bit every by over-use of chemicals, water tables of Punjab are significantly lower, and groundwater levels are dropping by 25 to 30 meters ever year. If nothing is done to reverse this trend, desertification is on the horizon in the not-so-distant future. And this only the tip of the iceberg. In addition to loss of fertility and water, chemical agriculture has also lead to decrease in bio-diveristy due to monoculture, topsoil erosion because of a lack of organic matter in the soil, and chemical contamination of drinking water sources. Arguably the Green Revolution was implemented in India for us, the consumer eating vegetables every day. But at the end of the day, is it really for the people that the face of agriculture changed?

The Consumer: You've seen the statistics in the newspaper, in fact there are very few people who don't know that there are links between chemicals and cancer. But we often feel that we have no choice, because chemically grown vegetables are the cheaper option. After the Green Revolution food production became something complicated and corporatized. In the world agrochemical companies are some of the wealthiest in the world, and they have close ties with governments, research centers, and universities to promote the sale of their products. There is a specific reason why chemically grown vegetables are cheaper, and it's not just because of the yields. The amount of money (the taxpayers money) that goes to subsidize these companies and their products is unfathomable. Additionally, we have no idea about the quantity of chemicals that are used to produce our food. To maintain their yields, farmers will put in what they feel is "right, not necessarily the amount actually required. As consumers, we have a right to this sort of information but it is very difficult to monitor. And it is not the fault of the farmers. They need to earn a living, and while they are forced to buy seeds and inputs from big companies they are not given proper training or assistance amongst other things. A TERI study found that we in India eat 40 times more pesticide that an average American.

The Farmer: Perhaps the least known and the most heart breaking are the effects on the farmers. While some farmers benefited from the shift in agricultural practices, small farmers bought into a cycle of debt that has continued for generations. In the beginning, large subsidies were given by the state to lower the costs of both seeds and the additional inputs. However once these subsidies were decreased or removed completely, small farmers were at the mercy of seed and agrochemical companies to maintain their incomes. They lost their land to large farmers, and became contract laborers on land that they had previously owned. Small farmers are poorer than ever, in fact it is in their communities that hunger and malnutrition is at its highest. In the last decade, around 250,000 farmers have committed suicide - triggered by this chemical-induced-debt. And perhaps the most telling of the all in the high rates of cancer in farming communities. When we had traveled to visit I Say Organic's partner farms in Punjab, we were shocked to learn that the main reason the farmers there had converted to organic were because their friends and family members had developed cancer.

Going forward we must rethink the way food is produced. A sustainable system is possible. Perhaps instead of another “Green Revolution” to increase yields, we need to redefine how we think “Green,” and take into consideration the farmer, consumer, and the earth.

For Further Reading: 
www.ifpri.org/pubs/ib/ib11.pdf
http://eksparsh.wordpress.com/2010/06/20/impacts-of-green-revolution-in-india/
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns/sainath/article2577635.ece
http://www.indiatribune.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5389:every-12-hours-one-farmer-commits-suicide-in-india&catid=106:magazine
http://livingheritage.org/green-revolution.htm
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/water-table-dips-in-punjab-haryana/379008/1