GREEN REVOLUTION IN INDIA“

A. K. CHAKRAVARTI

ABSTRACT. The introduction of hybrid seeds in India has doubled the yield of
foodgrains. The High Yielding Variety Seed Program (H.V.P. ) has contributed to
serious interregional disparities in agriculture. Surplus production of foodgrains is
not the true measure of success of the Green Revolution; many areas in India re-
main unaffected by this program, and are still vulnerable to famines. KEY WORDS:
Foodgrains, Green Revolution, High Yielding Variety Seeds, Regional disparities.

O R centuries agriculture in India has been
F characterized by subsistence farming, prim-
itive techniques, and low yields. Most of the
land was devoted to foodgrain production, yet
deficits could not be eradicated and, in many
areas, starvation and famines were frequent. As
a result of excessive pressure of population on
farms, unemployment was chronic, and millions
of people moved to industrial areas and planta-
tions. In recent years, however, the introduction
of high-yielding variety of seeds has facilitated
a significant breakthrough in foodgrain produc-
tion, and Indian agriculture appears on the
threshold of a great change. The latest develop-
ment has earned the popular name “Green
Revolution.” The long term effects of the Green
Revolution are difficult to predict, but it appears
to be a turning point in stagnating Indian agri-
culture.
The sudden agricultural developments have
created problems in rural India. The rapid
change is causing great economic imbalance
among farmers, and is further contributing to
large interregional disparities in agriculture.
The objectives of this study are to examine the
diffusion of the High Yielding Variety Seed
Accepted for publication 8 November 1972.
D r . Chukravurti is Associate Professor of Geography at
the Uniizersity of SasXatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada.
:::The author would like to express his sincere ap-
preciation to: the Canada Council for support in carry-
ing out this study and field work in India during the
spring and summer of 1970; the World Bank and the
Central and State Agricultural Departments of India
Government for releasing iinpiiblished data; many uni-
versity professors and village officers in India for
helping in the field work; and Messrs Hugo Tiessen,
Miloslav Drtina, and Stefan Palko, Department of
Geography, University of Saskatchewan, for process-
ing the data and drafting the maps.
ANNALS OF THE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN GEOGRAPHERS Vol. 63, No. 3, September 1973
0 1973b y the Association of American Geographers. Printed in U.S.A.
Program (also known as the High Yielding
Varieties Program or the H.V.P.) and to ana-
lyze regional disparities in its success.
METHODOLOGY AND DATA
The Central Government’s detailed agricul-
tural data publications were ten years behind in
the summer of 1970, and publication of Season
and Crop Report by State Governments was lag-
ging by five to ten years except for a few pro-
gressive states.I Most of these agricultural sta-
tistics are gathered every year, however, and
are available in unpublished form from indi-
vidual State Governments. These data cannot
be procured easily through correspondence, and
most of my materials were collected at the
sources in India. The accuracy of data is not
known, and no adjustment was possible, but
they are the best available estimate, and prob-
ably show the main trendse2
A field study was conducted to check and
supplement the statistical data, and to observe
the agricultural impact of the H.V.P. The field
work was carried in a single cropping season,
from late May to early September, 1970, and
an effort was made to visit the major agricul-
tural regions of India.
1 The Agricultural Department of each State Gov-
ernment publishes Season and Crop Report, and the
Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Ministry of
Food and Agriculture, Government of India, issues
Indian Agricultural Statistics, Vol. 11, and Estimates
of Area and Production of Principal Crops in India,
Vol. TI, for district level data every year.
2 The agricultural data of India were considered
“reasonably accurate” by Sir Henry Knight, Food
Administration in India 1939-47 (Standford, Cali-
fornia: Food Research Institute, 1954), p. 20; and
“they are useful enough in regional or crop compari-
sons and as evidence of trends,” 0. H . K. Spate and
A. T. A. Learmonth, India and Pakistan (London:
Methuen & Co., Ltd., 1967), p. 226.

319
320 A. K. CHAKRAVARTI
THE HIGH YIELDING VARIETY
SEED PROGRAM
The major concern of a farmer in India is to
produce enough food for the survival of his
family. As a result, the cultivation of foodgrains
is the dominant pattern of land use. About
seventy-five percent of the cropped land is de-
voted to foodgrains (rice, wheat, millets, maize,
barley, and varieties of pulses). Rice, wheat,
millets, maize, and barley contribute approxi-
mately seventy to ninety percent of the total
food requirements of the people.3 The funda-
mental problem, however, is not only to raise
the total foodgrain production (which has cer-
tainly gone up), but to make all parts of India
self-sufficient in food p r o d ~ c t i o n .Foodgrain
~
production can be increased by raising the
acreages, the yields, or both. Labor, farming
technique, fertilizers, and irrigation are repre-
sented by the yield. Since cultivable land in
India is limited and almost fully occupied, the
main solution must lie in raising the yield.5 An
increase in yields will provide reserves for lean
years and capital for investment. Raising the
yield of foodgrains, therefore, appears to be a
promising method of solving the food problem
in India.
Efforts to raise yields of foodgrains in India
by fertilization, irrigation, and improved seeds
were not encouraging.” India’s traditional crop
varieties have been evolved over several cen-
turies in order to withstand droughts, floods, low
soil fertility, and crude tillage practices without
variations in yields. Imported varieties have
failed where native seeds have enabled Indian
farmers to survive, but the native seeds have
responded poorly to fertilizers and other inputs.
The H.V.P. is the key element in starting
3 Results of Diet Surveys in India, 1935-48, Special
Report Series No. 20 (New Delhi, India: Indian
Council of Medical Research, 1951), p. 13.
4 A. K. Chakravarti, “Foodgrain Sufficiency Pat-
terns in India,” Geographical Review, Vol. 60 (1970),
p. 209.
5 S. P. Sinha, Indian Agriculture: Its Fluctuating
Fortunes (Allahabad: Kitab Mahal, 1965), p. 64;
and A. K. Chakravarti, “Changes in the Patterns of
Foodgrain Production and Sufficiency Level in India,
1921 to 1951,” T h e Journal of Tropical Geography,
Vol. 32 (1971), p. 13.
W. E. Hendrix, J. J. Naive, and W. E. Adams,
Accelerating India’s Food Grain Production, 1967-68
to 1970-71, Foreign Agricultural Economic Report
No. 40 (Washington: Department of Agriculture, Eco-
nomic Research Service, 1968), p. 7.
September
India’s Green Revolution. It includes five ma-
jor foodgrains, rice, wheat, maize, jowar (Sor-
ghum vulgare) , and bajra (Pennisetunz typhoid-
eunz). The most important qualities of these
hybrid crops are that:
they are more responsive to fertilizers;
the yields per unit of fcrtilizers are higher;
the heads do not topple when heavy with
matured grains;
excepting paddy seeds, they are drought
resistant and adapted to a wide latitudinal
range;
their shorter growing period sometimes
enables the cultivation of a second major
crop; and
they can give two to four times the yields
of the indigenous varieties.
These hybrid crops were introduced in India
in 1966-1967. Their commercial adoption has
becn rapid and successfuL7 During the 1966-
1967 crop year only 4.66 million acres (2.2 per-
cent of the total area under paddy, wheat, maize,
jowar, and bajra) were seeded under the H.V.P.,
but by 1968-1969 the area under the H.V.P.
had increased to 22.97 .million acre\ ( 1 0.4 per-
cent of the total cultivated area under the five
cereals) (Table 1). The target under the Fourth
Plan ( 1973-1974) is sixty million acres8 The
Government has taken extensive measures to
supply seeds to meet this target, and has estab-
lished the National Seed$ Corporation to pro-
vide financing and guidance.9
The impact of introducing the high-yielding
variety seeds was felt in the production of the
major cereals (Table 2 ) . I ( ’ Between 1950-5 1
and 1969-70 total foodgrain production ap-
proximately doubled, from fifty million tons to
a hundred million tons, with a noticeable rise
since 1966-67. Not all the new seed varieties
were equally successful, but the dwarf Mexican
wheat did very well; wheat production shot from
7 Hendrix et al., op. cit., footnote 6, pp. iv and 6.
8 Government of India, Directorate of Economics
and Statistics, Area under High Yielding Varieties
Prograninie (H.V.P.)-All India 1966-67 and 1968-
69 (New Delhi, India: Ministry of Food and Agri-
cultuie, mimeographed, 1969), Statements 1 and 11.
9 R. W. Cuniniings, “Seed Production in India,” in
A. H . Bunting, ed., Change in Agriculture (New York:
Praeger, 1970), pp. 137-45.
l o 1965-66 and 1966-67 were considered dry years
in India, and jowar, bajra, and maize are not given the
Same priority for irrigation, fertilizers, and pesticides
as wheat and rice.
1973 GREENREVOLUTION 321

TABLE
1.-AREA AND IMPORTANCEOF THE HIGH TABLE
2.-PRODUCTION O F CEREALS
YIELDING
SEEDPROGRAM FOR SPECIFIED
CROPS I N MILLIONTONS

Crop 1966-67 1967-68 1968-69 Crop 1950-51 1966-67 1967-68 1969-70

Thousands of acres under the H . V . P. Rice (milled) 20.58 30.44 37.61 40.43
Rice 2,200 4,4 10 6,620 Wheat 6.46 11.53 16.54 20.10
Wheat 1,340 7,270 11,840 Jowar 5.50 8.95 10.05 9.72
Maize 510 720 960 Bajra 2.60 4.50 5.19 5.33
Jowar 470 1,490 1,710 Maize 1.73 4.99 6.27 5.67
Bajra 140 1,030 1,840 Total foodgrains,
All foodgrains 4,660 14,920 22,970 including pulses
H . V . P. acreage as a percentage o f the total acreage and other grains 50.83 75.05 95.05 99.50
o f the crop specified Sonrces: Ronlware, op. cit., footnote 15, Tables 7 and 9,
Rice 2.5 4.9 7.2 and Hendrix et al., op. cit., footnote 6, p. 24.
Wheat 4.1 19.6 30.0
Maize 4.1 5.2 6.8
Jowar 1.1 3.3 3.7 helped to develop a crop production plan for his
Bajra 0.5 3.3 6.2 land.I3 The success of the new high-yielding
All foodgrains 2.2 6.8 10.4 seeds in I.A.D.P. districts has spurred rapid
Source: H. V. P. data from Government of India, op. cit., diffusion.
footnote 8; total crop acreage7 for 1966-67 from Government
of India, Publication Division, India: A Reference Annual, The H.V.P. has spread over eighteen per-
1968 (New Delhi: Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, cent or more of the area under rice, wheat,
196S), p. 222; total crop acreages for 1967-68 and 1968-69
from Boulware, op. cit., footnote 15, Table 5. maize, jowar, and bajra in the irrigated plains
of northwest India, but less than ten percent of
twelve million tons in 1966-67 to twenty mil- the foodgrain area elsewhere (Fig. 1). The
lion in 1969-70, and the estimate for 1971-72 successful adoption of the H.V.P. depends on
was twenty-six million t0ns.l’ judicious combination and use of chemical fer-
tilizers, the application of pesticides, and an
ADOPTION AND DIFFUSION adequate supply of irrigation water. Fertilizers,
Contrary to the common belief that farmers pesticides, and irrigation require capital invest-
in India are conservative, most of them are will- ment, and the farmer must produce a surplus
ing to adopt new techniques under the H.V.P. in order to repay the capital he has borrowed,
if they have field demonstration of their advan- which requires him to adopt commercial farm-
tages, resources to invest in farming, and se- ing. As a result, the diffusion of the H.V.P. is
curity against crop failure. retarded in the agriculturally backward areas of
The adoption of the H.V.P. was facilitated India.
by the “Intensive Agricultural District Pro- Fertilizer Consumption
gramme” (I.A.D.P.), which was built into the
existing community development organization.l? The new cereal varieties are highly responsive
The major objectives of this program have been to fertilization. The consumption of nitrogenous
to increase foodgrain production by demonstrat- fertilizers increased to 1,196,700 metric tons
ing and promoting the adoption of improved in 1968-1969 from 658,700 metric tons in
farm practices and by making available the 1966-1967, and the consumption of phosphatic
needed facilities, credit, seeds, fertilizers, pesti- fertilizers increased from 194,700 metric tons in
cides, and implements. Each farmer has been 1966-1967 to 407,700 metric tons in 1968-
1969.14 Potassic fertilizers rose from 28,000
11 India N e w s (Ottawa, High Commission of In-
tons in 1961-1962 to 176,000 tons in 1969-
dia), September 8, 1971, and February 16, 1972.
12 Government of India Expert Committee on As- 1 3 C. C. Malone, Background of Indian Agriculture
sessment and Evaluation, “Modernising Indian Agri- and India’s Intensive Agricultural Program (New
culture,” Report on the Intensive Agricultural District Delhi, India: The Ford Foundation, 1969), pp. 17
Programme ( I Y 6 0 4 8 ) , Vol. I (New Delhi, India: and 27.
Ministry of Food, Agriculture, C. D. and Coopera- 14 Government of India Directorate of Economics
tion, 1969), pp. 3-9 and 32; and B. Harriss, “Innova- and Statistics and World Bank for Reconstruction and
tion Adoption in Indian Agriculture-The High Yield- Development, Effective Demand f o r Fertilizers in
ing Varieties Programme,” Modern Asian Studies, Vol. India (New Delhi, India: Ministry of Food and Agri-
6 (1972), pp. 71-98. culture, mimeographed, 1970), Appendix, Table XIX.
322 A. K. CHAKRAVARTI September

18 30%
M o r e than 30%

0 Data not ovailobl.

FIG. 1 . Area in High Yielding Variety seeds as a percentage of total area under wheat,
paddy, jowar, bajra, and maize, 1968-1969. For Assam and Himachal Pradesh data are avail-
able only a t the state level, and in Punjab and Haryana jowar and bajra are not considered
under the H.V.P.

1970.15 Despite the large increase in fertilizer
consumption in recent years, however, India
still uses only about one-fifth of the world aver-
age per acre,
The consumption of fertilizers per hectare of
James H . Boulware, Brief on Indian Agriculture
1971 (New Delhi, India: Ofice of the Agricultural
Attache, American Embassy, 1970), p. 28.
cropland is higher in the irrigated fields of north-
west India and along the coastal plains (Fig. 2 ) .
Fertilizer is not the only requirement for the
H.V.P., and cash crops such as sugar cane and
cotton also need large amounts, but H.V.P.
areas are generally large in districts which also
have large consumptions Of (Figs.
and 2 ) . Many farmers in agriculturally back-
1973 GREENREVOLUTION 323

10 - 20

20 - 40

More thon 40

FIG. 2. Nitrogen and phosphate fertilizer consumption per hectare of gross crop land in
kilogram nutrients, 1968-1969.

ward areas cannot afford to purchase chemical
fertilizers, and distribution centers and credit
facilities are also inadequate in most of these
areas. The number of cooperative retail depots
has declined in recent years from 48,000 to
40,000.1G The Central Government has at-
Government of India Planning Commission,
If;
Fourth Five Y e w PIan 1969-74 (Delhi, India: Publi-
cation Branch, 1970), p. 132.
tempted to increase the number of retailers, and
to include villages away from the railheads.
Use of Pesticides
High-yielding variety seeds need more eff ec-
tive disease and pest controls than traditional
varieties, because conditions which are condu-
cive to the growth of the new varieties are also
favorable for pests and diseases. The denser
planting of high-yielding seeds, for example,
324 A. K. CHAKRAVARTI September

may increase insect populations and favor the growing high-yielding wheat was 155 percent
spread of diseases. Moreover, high-yielding more than for the local varieties.‘O This higher
varieties entail a higher cost of production, and cost was more than compensated by almost
justify more effective plant protection mea- double output, and a net income of 190 per-
sures.” The area covered by pest control mea- cent greater than from the local wheat variety.
sures increased from 5.9 million acres in 1955- The more lucrative method of foodgrain pro-
1956 to 98.8 million acres in 1968-1969.lS The duction has been more widely adopted in agri-
consumption of pesticides during 1968-1969 culturally richer areas of the country which can
was about 40,000 tons, and is expected to reach afford higher investments. This regional dis-
66,000 tons by 1973-1974. parity in adoption has been widened by the
Increased use of pesticides in India has facedunequal success of the cereals under the H.V.P.
the same problems as increased fertilizer con- Rice and wheat occupy 30.5 and 15.7 per-
sumption, and the Central Government is taking cent of the total foodgrain acreage, are univer-
steps to strengthen plant protection services and sally preferred over other cereals, command
to expand training, credit, and distribution fa- higher prices, and constitute the bulk of com-
cilities. Sixty percent of India’s current annual mercial grains. Jowar, bajra, and maize are poor
pesticide requirement is imported, but proposals man’s food, and are consumed only if rice and
for domestic manufacture of most of the im- wheat are not available.?’ High yielding wheat
ported materials have been approved by the occupied about thirty percent of the total wheat
Government, and most of the spraying and acreage, and rice, jowar, bajra, and maize occu-
dusting equipment is now being manufactured pied 7.2, 3.7, 6.2, and 6.8 percent of their total
in India. cultivated areas in 1968-1969 (Table 1 ) . The
new millets and corn have unattractive prices,
Extension of Irrigation they are more vulnerable to pests and diseases,
Farmers under the H.V.P. cannot afford to and corn is very late to mature, hindering mul-
take chances with erratic rainfall. Moreover, the tiple cropping.
new seeds respond to fertilizer better if timely The wheat-growing areas have benefitted
and adequate water is available, but seventy more than the rice-growing areas under the new
percent of the cropped area of India has rain- program. The irrigated plains of northwest In-
fall too low or too unreliable to permit their dia, which are some of the most agriculturally
use even during the main cropping season, and developed parts of the country, have as much as
only twenty percent of the cultivated area is half their wheat acreage under the new seeds
irrigated. Even where the annual rainfall is (Fig. 3 ) . Paddy areas have generally less than
heavy, the available moisture is insufficient for twelve percent of the fields sown with the new
crop production during winter and premonsoon varieties, and many districts have less than two
seasons. The H.V.P. has been adopted mainly percent (Fig. 4 ) .
in areas with well developed irrigation facili- Wheat has been more successful than rice in
ties (Fig. 1 ) .lo More of the previously favored some paddy regions, and the new paddy pro-
grain producing areas have switched to the gram has had greater success in some wheat
H.V.P. than the less-developed areas. districts (such as in western Uttar Pradesh)
than in predominantly paddy areas (Figs. 3
Regional Disparities
and 4 ) . Approximately 162 of the 320 districts
Foodgrain production under the H.V.P. is in India had areas devoted to both wheat and
more expensive than under the traditional sys- paddy under the H.V.P.22 The ratio between
tem. A study in a north Indian village, for ex-
ample, found that the total cost per hectare for
3oR. S. Dixit and P. P. Singh, “Impact of High
Yielding Varieties on Human Labour Input,” Agricul-
1 7 The three important measures practiced under the / w n / S;tuarion in Iridiu, Vol. 24 (1970), pp. 1086-87.
H.V.P. are seed treatment, weed control, and post “1 Chakravarti, op. cit., footnote 4, p. 210. Maps
sowing prophylactic treatment, Hendrix et al., op. cit., showing wheat, rice, jowar, bajra, and maize growing
footnote 6, pp. 17-18. regions of India are in Spate and Learmonth, op. cit.,
18 Boulware, op. cit., footnote 15, p. 29. footnote 2, pp. 241, 245, 248, and 252.
19 Government of India, “Census Atlas,” Ccrisus of 22 Ratios could not be computed for districts which
lridiu 1961, Vol. I, Part 9 (Delhi, India: The Man- had no H. V. P.wheat or paddy, or no wheat or paddy
ager of Publications, 1970), p. 153. at all. Ratios for Assam and Himachal Pradesh have
1973 GREENREVOLUTION 325

32 - 55%
More tho" 55%
No significant area
under wheot

0 Data not ovoilobl.

Miles

-~
FIG.3. Area in High Yielding Variety wheat as a percentage of total sown area under
wheat, 1968-1969. For Assam and Himachal Pradesh data are available only at the state level.

the percentages of wheat and paddy acreages
under the H.V.P. was less than one in only
twenty-two districts, and ran as high as twenty
(Fig. 5 ) .
Between 1966-67, the first year of the
H.V.P., and 1968-69 the wheat acreage in-
creased twenty-five to thirty-five percent in
wheat-growing states, whereas the paddy acre-
been shown at the state level because district level data
were net available.
age under the H.V.P. had increased far less,
and in some states had even declined (Fig. 6 ) .
The success of the wheat program in developed
areas has aggravated economic disparities, and
may contribute to political instability, because
the paddy program has had little success in
densely populated rice-producing areas which
have suffered frequent food deficits. Further,
the wheat surplus probably will not solve the
food problem of the paddy areas, because firmly
326 A. K. CHAKRAVARTI September

12 0 - 20 0%

More than 2 0 0%

rn No significant area
under paddy

0 Data not available

Miles

FIG. 4. Area in High Yielding Variety paddy as a percentage of total sown area under
paddy, 1968-1969. For Assam, Hiniachal Pradesh. and Jammu and Kashniir data are avail-
able only at the state level.

established food habits make substitution diffi-
cult."^
One major reason for the comparatively poor
success of the paddy H.V.P. is the susceptibility
Of the new paddy seeds to pests and diseases.
Growing the new varieties increases costs, but
Sir John Woodhead, Chairman, The Famine Erz-
qiiiry Co~nniissioii:Fino1 Report, 1945 (Delhi, India:
The Manager of Publications, 1945), p. 199.
yields are not proportionately higher because of
damage by pests and diseases. In the rice-grow-
ing areas of northeast India, a common insect
called “Jassid” a virus which
browning and poor development of rice grains.
kharif (autumn) rice crop is
The
more susceptible than the rabi (winter) rice.
A second cause for poor is the cooking
quality and the tastc of the new rice. Consumers
1973 GREENREVOLUTION 327

a No significant area
~n H.Y.V wheat
I
No rianificant area
Ueithe; under wheat
or paddy dota
not a v a i l a b g
Miles

FIG.5. The ratio between the percentages of wheat and paddy acreages under the H.V.P.,
1968-69. Data are available only at the state level for Assam and Himachal Pradesh.

prefer long grain rice, which is nonglutinous,
and expands and becomes fluffy when cooked.
Most new varieties of rice are short grained,
lump after cooking, and have a taste disliked
by many people. A third reason is that most
farmers who produce rice as their staple food
cannot afford chemical fertilizers, pesticides,
and irrigation, and those who grow the new
varieties get lower prices since buyers prefer
the indigenous varieties. The farmers in one
village in Andhra Pradesh told me that the new
varieties with shorter stems give lower yields
of straw, which is needed for cattle feed.
The major paddy growing areas where the
new paddy seeds have been popular are in the
south, which does not have the “Jassid” prob-
lem.24 In the south the “Stemborer” pest prob-
34 Published data and detailed information are not
available, and it is not possible to account for each
328 A. K. CHAKRAVARTI September

FIG.6. Percentage change in H. V. P. wheat (left) and paddy (right) area as a percentage
of the total area sown in each crop, 1966-67 to 1968-69. State data have been used because
district data are not available for crop year 1966-67 in many states.

lem is alrcady under control. Farmers in the
south are using more pesticides than those in
northcast India, and the people in thc south do
not have so strong a prejudice against the new
rice as those in the northeastern states, bccause
popular rice dishes in south India are prepared
by grinding the grains, and fluffiness does not
matter.
A lower rate of adoption of new paddy in the
wheat-consuming states of northwest India is
because of negligible local demand for rice.
Rice is a cash crop and is shipped to the urban
markets. Since the new rice is less preferred,
most paddy acreage in these states is devoted
to indigenous seeds, which bring higher prices.”?
The irrigated plains of northwestern India have
great potential for raising yields and producing
surplus rice if the price is right for the new
varieties.
Intruregional Problems
The H.V.P. has also led to problems within
the samc rcgion or even in the satne village.
Most of these problems are related to differences
in poverty among farmers, which have influ-
individual district. My statements are based o n infor-
mation from Tamilnadu and Kerala States.
ZT, Zrztlia News, op. cit., footnote 11, September 29,
1971.
enced adoption of the H.V.P. It is not uncom-
mon to find significant disparity in agricultural
development among the villages in the same
district, or even within a village.26Villages with
predominantly lower caste farmers are poor and
backward. For example, Lachhampur village in
the district of Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh,
about ninety miles (140 km) southeast of New
Delhi, is settled predominantly by Lodhies, a
depressed Hindu caste of farmers. The average
farm is about one acre, and many remain frag-
mented. The village is far behind adjoining vil-
lages in adoption of the H.V.P. because the
farmers have not been able to borrow money to
improve their farming techniques. They do not
want to borrow money from private sources, as
they fear that their land would be confiscated if
they failed to pay installments because of poor
harvests, and they lack influence with the au-
thorities. About forty percent of the farmers
have no bullocks, there are no tractors or farm
machines, and only fifty percent of the cultivated
area has canal irrigation. Farmers have no funds
to install wells for irrigation, although risks of
crop failure are high because of scanty monsoon
rains.
2‘;O. H. K. Spate and C . D. Deshpande, “The
Indian Village,” Geography, VoI. 37 (1952), pp.
142-52.
1973 GREENREVOLUTION
The nearby village of Belon has a large pro-
portion of high caste Brahmin and Kshatriya
farmers, and is in the main stream of the Green
Revolution. The average farm in Belon is be-
tween twenty and twenty-five acres. The village
has adequate canal irrigation facilities and eight
wells. Most farmers have bullocks, and some
have tractors. Most have been able to get loans
to modernize operations. With the adequate use
of fertilizers and some pesticides, the wheat is
entirely H.V.P., and yields have doubled,
thereby raising incomes and providing further
incentives to modernize farming conditions.
Some poor villages are not participating in
the H.V.P. at all, and some rich villages are
participating fully. In a given village some
farmers are not participating, some are partici-
pating on only part of their land, and some are
not using enough fertilizer, and pesticide, which
might be the most serious obstacles to the ulti-
mate success of the H.V.P. The major reasons
€or inadequate use of fertilizer and pesticides
are lack of funds, ignorance, or both. Chemical
fertilizer involved about forty-two to fifty-two
percent of the total expenditure of participating
farmers.27Expenditure on seed ranged between
two and sixteen percent, and on pesticides two
percent or less. In 1970 few small farmers used
pesticides. Those who did generally used less
than correct amounts, and applied them after in-
festation, as curative rather than preventive
measure. Fertilizer application was also inade-
quate. No soil tests have been conducted in
many farming areas, and correct fertilizer mixes
for individual fields are not known.2x Some
farmers have applied less than the recommended
amounts because yields have declined, and the
returns did not justify the costs.29
It has been difficult to maintain a high stan-
dard of purity and quality in seed production,
but the seed certification and registration pro-
2 1 Government of India Directorate of Economics
and Statistics, “Report on High Yielding Varieties
Programme,” Agricultural Situation in India, Vol. 23
(1969), p. 1,266.
2 8 S. Kuinaraswamy and G. Thomas, “Green Revo-
lution : Andoorkonam Way,” Agricultural Situation in
India, Vol. 24 (1969), p. 304.
29 Most farmers used less than the correct amount
of both fertilizers and pesticides, which accelerated
diminishing returns; B. Harris, “The Green Revolu-
tion in Ludhiana District, India,” Geography, Vol. 56
(1971), p. 245.
329
cedures of the National Seed Law are an attempt
to control seed quality.3o
The availability of timely and adequate irri-
gation water has been the most important fac-
tor for the adoption and success of the H.V.P.
Most areas with canal irrigation have fields un-
der the new seed program. Many canals were
built to avert complete crop failures and fam-
ines, and they cannot meet regular irrigation
needs.31 Channels run dry during hot dry spells
when irrigation needs are greatest. Most farmers
arrange additional irrigation to reduce the risk
of H.V.P. crop failure. The number of private
wells went from 113,000 in 1965-1966 to
350,000 in 1969-1970, and government wells
went from 14,000 to 16,800.32 Electric and
diesel irrigation pumps increased from 979,000
in 1965-1966 to 2,000,000 in 1969-1970.
Farmers who can afford them have their own
wells and pumps, and others give them first
priority. Farmers who have staked their life’s
savings in pumps or wells complain about fre-
quent breakdown, and the lack of technicians
and spare parts. The shortage of farm laborers
in northwest India, an unusual problem in a
densely populated country, is related to the
distribution of land to landless laborers in the
villages, to better employment opportunities in
the cities, and to more labor required for grow-
ing the new varieties of wheat.33 Many farmers
confront a complex and demanding job which
requires intensive care and better organization.
Although the Green Revolution has brought a
more challenging life, not a single participant
wanted to quit the H.V.P.
CONCLUSIONS
The introduction of high-yielding variety
seeds has stimulated use of chemical fertilizers,
pesticides, irrigation, and commercialization of
grain farming in India. The overwhelming suc-
cess of the dwarf Mexican wheat is the back-
bone of the Green Revolution. The trend has
just started, and has affected only a small seg-
ment of millions of farmers. An awareness of
the new system and a willingness to get involved
in it appear to be most important to continuing
“OHendrix et al., op. cit., footnote 6, p. 16.
31 R. R. Platt, ed., India: A Compendium (New
York: American Geographical Society, 1962), p. 21 1.
32 Boulware, op. cit., footnote 15, p. 32.
33 Dixit and Singh, op. cit., footnote 20, pp. 1,084-
85.
330 A. K. CHAKRAVARTI
success of the program, which must overcome
three major challenges:
1) India has experienced more or less nor-
mal weather conditions since 1967-68. Al-
though most H.V.P. farmers have irrigation fa-
cilities, the adequacy of such facilities has not
yet been tested by drought^.:^^
:+I In 1972 there were reports of serious droughts
and crop failures in western and southwestern India,
power cuts were imposed to save hydroelectricity for
irrigation wells and pumps, and the Government
claimed that a small quantity of foodgrains would be
September
2) The Green Revolution has been a suc-
cess in wheat producing areas, but the new rice
has not been successful. H.V.P. agricultural de-
velopment must focus on raising production of
the rice areas.
3) Development started from the top and is
slowly seeping down to the bottom-the small
and poor farmers who form the majority. These
farmers must be involved at an increasing rate.
imported “only for boosting buffer stock,” Zridiun
Express (New Delhi), December 1 , 1972.