The History of the Green Revolution in the United States

In the last 40 years, global food production has kept pace with population increase. This can be attributed to a continuing stream of high-yielding varieties, coupled with better crop management practices. Despite a 3.5 billion increase in global population since the 60s, world food supplies are 25% higher per person and real prices are almost 40% lower that they were in 1961 (Alex F. McCalla, 76). Even with these great advancements, some 700 million people are persistently hungry and live in fear of starvation. By the end of the 21st century, there will be at least 10 billion people in the world, possibly more.

Food production will therefore have to be doubled, and produce more sustainably. Most of this production will have to come from already cultivated lands (Islam, 143).

Contributions of Green Revolution

Green revolution was one of the great success stories of the second part of the twentieth century. As a result of the introduction of high-yielding varieties of maize, rice and wheat beginning in the sixties, overall food production in developing countries kept pace with population increase, with both showing exponential growth (Uwe Kracht, 276).

The benefits of green revolution reached most of the world’s poorest people. Forty years ago, 50 percent of the population in developing countries did not have enough to eat. Had this proportion remained unchanged, the number of hungry people would now be over two billion, twenty percent of the present population in the developing world. Food prices have declined by over 70% in the last thirty years. This has mostly benefited the poor, who spend the highest proportion of their family income on food (Islam, 134).

Green revolution has greatly benefited the industrial world as well. High yielding varieties of staple crop plants bred by the international agricultural research centers have been incorporated into modern varieties grown in Europe and the United States. The additional rice and wheat produced in the US alone from these varieties is estimated to have been worth over $3.5 billion between 1975 and 1995 (Simon, 67).

Despite these demonstrable achievements, over 850 million people consume less than 2,500 calories a day and continue to live a life of permanent hunger. Most of the hungry are women and children from extremely poor families in developing countries. Over 180 million children under the age of five are severely underweight (Alex F. McCalla, 223). 17 million die each year, with a third of the deaths being attributed to malnutrition. Apart from gross undernourishment, lack of vital nutrients in the diet is also widespread. Almost 100 million children under five years of age continue to suffer from vitamin A deficiency, which can lead to eye damage. Over 500,000 children become totally or partially blind each year, and many subsequently die (Simon, 89). Recent research has also demonstrated that lack of vitamin A has a much more pervasive effect, weakening the protective barriers that the skin, immune system and mucus membranes put up to fight infection. Iron deficiency is also prevalent, leading to about 300 million women of childbearing age (15-49 years) being afflicted by anemia (Alex F. McCalla, 276). As a result, they tend to produce underweight or stillborn children and are more likely to die in childbirth. Anaemia has been singled out as a key contributing factor in over 20% of all maternal deaths after childbirth in African and Asia. If no action is taken, the number of the poor and hungry will increase. The populations of most developing countries are on the rise and by the year 2020, there will be 1.5 billion more mouths to feed, mostly in the developing world (Islam, 105).

Solutions

While discussions are underway, there are a number of options that should be considered. With reduced competitive loss, seed companies could adopt provisions allowing seed sharing and saving by farmers in developing countries in collaboration with public plant breeding agencies, rather than using terminator or patent technologies to safeguard their varieties. To prompt the development of biotechnology capacity in developing countries, corporations that have IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) claims over certain strategic techniques or materials should agree to permit these for use in developing countries for free (Uwe Kracht, 75). Agreements should also be put in place to share financial rewards from IPR claims on crop traits and varieties of distinct origins, such as Thailand’s Jasmine rice or South Asia’s Basmati. Granting of free licenses to for use of such materials in breeding programs in the country of origin of the trait might gain the appreciation of researchers and governments of developing countries (Uwe Kracht. 86).

Twenty first century agriculture will need to be more productive and less damaging to the environment than it previously has. A sustained effort is needed to ensure that agricultural research benefits the hundreds of millions of poor farmers who have gained little from previous research. Biotechnology boasts significant potential to help realize these objectives. However, this potential is threatened by a polarized debate which is increasingly becoming acrimonious. This trend needs to be reversed. All stakeholders need to begin working together by sharing knowledge to ensure that new technologies are applied to agriculture only when they can be safely and effectively implemented, to help achieve future food security for the world.