PRO: THE GREEN REVOLUTION IS THE ANSWER TO THE WORLD’S FOOD SUPPLY PROBLEM

The material below can be used to prepare your side of the debate. You do not have to use it all. Select and organize appropriate facts and arguments to present a coherent position.

• The Green Revolution was responsible for a 37 percent increase in grain production in India from 1950 to 1977. 

• In the northern part of India, where the Green Revolution techniques became very popular, wheat production doubled in only four years.

• Although some farmers have not seen the promised increases in production, they probably need to be taught the techniques required. Do not condemn the system because someone applies it incorrectly.

• Traditional farming methods are no longer practical with the increase in the worlds population. There is not much arable land left to cultivate, so we must grow higher yields on existing cropland.

• Without the use of technology and the new seed varieties, the necessary expansion of cropland would endanger forests and grasslands, further damaging the global environment,

• Traditional agriculture is responsible for more damage to the environment than intensive agriculture (the techniques of the Green Revolution). For example, the spread of he Sahara Desert in Africa has been partially caused by overgrazing and the cutting down of trees for fuel caused by population pressure. in Asia overgrazing and deforestation have caused serious soil erosion and flooding. On the other hand, lands have been improved for intensive agriculture by constructing new drainage systems, leveling and irrigating the land, all of which help to preserve it.

• Opponents have exaggerated the costs of the technology required for intensive farming. For example, a less expensive version of the tube well (for irrigation) was developed which costs only $40 -$50. Small farmers could get credit to build one.

• One of the most important effects of the Green Revolution in India is the enthusiasm of the participating farmers, In a culture which has traditionally resisted change, this desire for change and optimistic view of the future is an important shift,

• Because of the need for increased efficiency in the use of land and other natural resources, agriculture in the future must be based on science. There is no room or time to continue practicing inefficient traditional methods. By the year 2000, there will be half the land per person in developing countries as there was in 1970.

• Farmers who succeed using Green Revolution techniques will have more income to invest in improvements such as large farm machinery and more efficient wells and irrigation systems. They will begin to think in modem, scientific ways

• The reasons for poverty in the rural areas of developing countries is low productivity, Agriculture must be made more productive. The best way to do this is to increase crop yields.