Green revolution

Green revolution

Introduction

By definition, green revolution can be viewed as a periodic transfer of technology in farming that resulted in a worldwide increase in food production, especially in the developing countries. Some of the technologies that were transferred included hybrid seeds, mechanization, pesticides and chemical fertilizers. The green revolution had both negative and positive impact based on the points of view such as health, sustainability, impact on the environment, social relationship and traditional culture.  This paper seeks to explore some of the positive and negative impacts of the revolution based on the above stated perspectives.

Positive impact

One of the positive impacts of the green revolution is increased food security. Notably, before the green revolution, there was a notable negative deviation between the population growth and food security. The methods of farming used were not enough to sustain the population[1]. However, with the coming of the green revolution, there was increased food production which meant food security.

Another positive impact was increased land use. Before the immergence of the revolution, there was limited land use, and some areas could not be farmed due to their environmental conditions. This made most of the communities especially in the developed countries more susceptible to famine. However, with the green revolution, more land could be cultivated by the use of the transferred modern technologies.

Negative impacts

One of the major socioeconomic negative impacts of the revolution is the accrued sustainability of the whole process. Notably, scholars have indicated that the green revolution is unsustainable. There has been a notable shoot in the human population, and the humanity is now in the state of overpopulation. Therefore, regarding food security, the human population has worn a temporary war. The future is a bit dark regarding the current direction of the human population[2].  The green revolution gave poeople force hope which precipitated to high production which cannot be sustained by the normal ecosystem. In this regard, the human population has swelled in such a manner that the green revolution sense of security will soon self-destruct.

Another negative impact and which is also socioeconomic is the issue of famine.  Scholars have indicated that there is an accrued difference between increased food production and the sense of food security. Increased production and supply of food does not mean that there will be no famine. In this case, food supply is not the cause of famine but rather it the public action and involvement of all the socioeconomic variables and dynamics that affect food sustainability and security of a certain region.[3] It is due to this reason that there is still famine in the developed countries despite the increased transfer of farming related technologies of the green revolution.

Regarding health, the green revolution has also been quoted to have a negative impact. One of the health impact precipitate from reduced quality of diet. Evidently, the increased food production caused by the green revolution farming. Before the coming of this type of farming, many people practiced polyculture type of farming in the developing countries where the quality of the diet was guaranteed. However, with the introduction of the monoculture farming, the entire concept of dieting has changed, and the quality of food has substantially reduced. This has had a subsequent effect on the health of people.  For instance, research has indicated that about 60% of children who die in the developing countries below the age of five is largely due to malnutrition which can be linked to the green revolution impact on the quality of food and dieting[4]. It is evident that the actual intention of the green revolution was to increase the food production for the starving people but little it gave little or no relevance to the nutritional value and quality of the food. The process concentrates much on the production of cereals such as rice and maize, and these have relatively low value on nutrients such as protein and vitamins.

Another negative health impact is the issue of high pesticide intake and the issue of cancer. Research indicates that high intake of pesticides increase the susceptibility of an individual to cancer as the chemical compounds in the pesticides accumulate in the body[5]. The estimated human pesticides poisoning every year is 1 million a trend that has been facilitated by the technological transfers of the green revolution.

In reference to the impact on the environment, one of the negative impacts of the green revolution is the loss of biodiversity. The green revolution has largely encouraged monoculture which has destroyed the traditional biodiversity that existed. This notion has led to the increased susceptibility and destruction of some species of plant by pest and pathogens.

Finally, the green revolution has resulted in an increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere which further causes global warming. Notably, a reduction in biodiversity means that there is the high cultivation of crops that have a little sinking impact on greenhouse gases. As a result, the level of the greenhouse gases will rise in the atmosphere resulting in global warming.

References

Evenson, Robert E., and Douglas Gollin. “Assessing the impact of the Green Revolution, 1960    to 2000.” science 300, no. 5620 (2003): 758-762.

Gollin, Douglas, Casper Worm Hansen, and Asger Wingender. Two blades of grass: The impact   of the green revolution. No. w24744. National Bureau of Economic Research, 2018.

Pingali, Prabhu L. “Green revolution: impacts, limits, and the path ahead.” Proceedings of the       National Academy of Sciences 109, no. 31 (2012): 12302-12308.

Shiva, Vandana. The violence of the green revolution: Third world agriculture, ecology, and          politics. University Press of Kentucky, 2016.

[1] Pingali, Prabhu L. “Green revolution: impacts, limits, and the path ahead.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109, no. 31 (2012): 12302-12308.

[2] Evenson, Robert E., and Douglas Gollin. “Assessing the impact of the Green Revolution, 1960 to 2000.” science 300, no. 5620 (2003): 758-762.

[3] Byerlee, Derek, and Greg Traxler. “National and international wheat improvement research in the post-Green Revolution period: Evolution and impacts.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 77, no. 2 (1995): 268-278.

[4] Shiva, Vandana. The violence of the green revolution: Third world agriculture, ecology, and politics. University Press of Kentucky, 2016.

[5] Gollin, Douglas, Casper Worm Hansen, and Asger Wingender. Two blades of grass: The impact of the green revolution. No. w24744. National Bureau of Economic Research, 2018.