What is Green Revolution? Why was it implemented and how did it benefit the farmers? Explain in brief.

The introduction of High Yielding Varieties (HYV) of seeds and the increased use of fertilisers, pesticides and irrigation facilities are known collectively as the Green Revolution, which resulted in the increase in crop yield needed to make India self-sufficient in foodgrains. Various land reforms were also undertaken in order to make green revolution successful. Thus, Green Revolution included the following measures:-

(i) Use of High Yielding Varieties (HYV) of seeds
(ii) Increase in irrigation cover
(iii) Use of insecticides and pesticides
(iv) Consolidation of holdings
(v) Rural electrification
(vi) Improvement in rural infrastructure
(Vii) Agricultural credit facilities
(viii) Use of chemical fertilizers

Reasons for Implementation of Green Revolution

Green Revolution was implemented because of the following reasons:-

(1) Food Security:- The colonial rule had made Indian agriculture suffer from low level of productivity especially in foodgrains as more emphasis during colonial rule had been on cash crops which served as raw material to British industries. This resulted in shortage of foodgrains in India and made Green Revolution necessary to provide food security to the population.

(ii) Low Irrigation Facility:- The land area under irrigation cover was only 17% in 1951. The major part of agriculture was dependent on rainfall from monsoon and in case of scanty rainfall or delayed monsoon, crops were destroyed due to lack of proper irrigation facilities. This caused low level of agricultural production.

(iii) Conventional Methods:- The use of conventional inputs and absence of modern techniques led to low level of agricultural productivity.

(iv) Self-reliance:- Due to low productivity and rapidly growing population, there was foodgrains shortage which had to be imported from United States and other countries. This drained away scarce foreign reserves. It was believed that with the increased production due to Green Revolution, government can maintain stock for period of shortages and India can achieve self-reliance.

(V) Marketable Surplus:- Agriculture was basically for subsistence and therefore, less amount of agricultural product was offered for sale in the market. Hence, the need was felt to encourage the farmers to increase their production so that they could have a greater portion of their produce for sale in the market and thus earn higher income.

Green Revolution benefitted farmers in various ways. It helped in raising the income of the farmers and hence their living standard because now the produce was more and the farmers had marketable surplus to sell in the market. Apart from this, the use of HYV seeds necessitated the improvement in irrigation facilities by the government which made the farmers less dependent on rainfall and hence more secure.

The government provided loans at low interest rate to small farmers and subsidised fertilisers so that small farmers could also have access to the needed inputs. Since, the small farmers could obtain the required inputs, the output on small farms equalled the output on large farms in the course of time which resulted in equity and social justice.