green revolution

In agriculture, the change in methods of arable farming instigated in the 1940s and 1950s in countries of the developing world. The intent was to provide more and better food for their populations, albeit with a heavy reliance on chemicals and machinery. It was abandoned by some countries in the 1980s. Much of the food produced was exported as cash crops, so that local diet did not always improve.

The green revolution tended to benefit primarily those landowners who could afford the investment necessary for such intensive agriculture. Without a dosage of 70–90 kg/154–198 lb of expensive nitrogen fertilizers per hectare, the high-yield varieties will not grow properly. Hence, rich farmers tended to obtain bigger yields while smallholders were unable to benefit from the new methods.

In terms of production, the green revolution was initially successful in Southeast Asia; India doubled its wheat yield in 15 years, and the rice yield in the Philippines rose by 75%. However, yields have levelled off in many areas; some countries that cannot afford the dams, fertilizers, and machinery required, have adopted intermediate technologies.

High-yield varieties of cereal plants require much more nitrogen per acre, more than is available to small farmers in poor countries. The rich farmers therefore enjoy bigger harvests, and the gap between rich and poor in the developing world has grown.