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8/7/2019 Political Dimensions of Agricultural Innovation and the Green Revolution in India: Presentation
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THE GREEN
REVOLUTION
POLITICAL DIMENSIONS OF
AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION
8/7/2019 Political Dimensions of Agricultural Innovation and the Green Revolution in India: Presentation
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Antecedents
Green Revolution commonly recognized as the
introduction and subsequent promulgation of HYV seeds
in Pakistan and on the Indian Subcontinent, particularly inPunjab province and the greater Punjab region.
The mainstay of the green revolution is the application of
modern technology, centered on high yielding varieties [of
seeds], in tropical and sub-tropical agricultural
environments.- Kazuo Sait
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Antecedents
Green Revolution can be traced back to the establishmentof the Office of Special Studies in Mexico in 1943
Directly involved were the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico andVice-President Henry Wallace
Took the form of a joint venture between the Mexicangovernment and the Rockefeller foundation
The directors of the program invited Norman Borlaug to jointhe research team in 1944
Previously, Borlaug was doing classified wartime laboratoryresearch for Dupont
Miracle seeds come into existence in 1954, with Borlaugacknowledged as their intellectual architect
Received the Nobel Prize in 1970 for a new world situationwith regard to nutrition.
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Antecedents The Indian Subcontinent
Principal concern of Indian farmers is to feed their families;
whats known as subsistence farming
Primary crops therefore tend to be foodgrains (rice,
wheat, millets, maize and barley)
These crops constitute 70 90 percent of peoples caloric
requirements
75 percent of cropped land in India is used for the production
of these foodgrains
The Indian Punjab most directly affected by the Green
Revolution
Or, as some call it, its greatest success
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Image Copyright 1993 Vandana Shiva
The Violence of The Green Revolution,Zed Books , London.
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Image Copyright 1993 Vandana ShivaThe Violence of The Green Revolution,Zed Books , London.
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Antecedents The Indian Subcontinent
Indian farming and the sub-continent at large famine-
prone (?/!)
Several major famines under British rule such as theBengal Famine of 1943
Bengal Famine estimated to have resulted in 4 million
deaths
The Bihar Famine of 1966-1967
Were the deficiencies of Indias agricultural system
endogenous/systemic or exogenous/imposed?
Monocausal or multivariate?
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Antecedents The Indian Subcontinent
Famine and drought created an established political
interest in:
Food Security
Regional agricultural sustainability (as opposed to simply
raising national aggregate output levels)
Increase in agricultural productivity became part of the
public agenda
How can agricultural output be increased?
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Agricultural Output
Yield
Acreage
Antecedents The Indian Subcontinent
Yield: Labor, Farming Technique, Irrigation and Fertilizers
Acreage: Aggregate land area devoted to agricultural
purposes
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Antecedents The Indian Subcontinent
Most agriculturally viable land in India is occupied, leaving
yield augmentation as only alternative to raising output
Numerous attempts already made at trying to improveyield before Green Revolution
Imported seed varieties generally failed due to the
particulars of the growing environment
Indigenous seeds respond poorly to fertilizers and other
inputs
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Antecedents The Indian Subcontinent
HYV Seed introduction began with five major types:
Rice, Wheat, Maize, Jowar, Bajra
Essential qualities separating these types from standardyield variants:
More responsive to fertilizer
Yield per unit of fertilizer is higher
Drought resistance and adapted to a wide latitudinal range
Short growing period; occasionally a second major crop canbe planted
Yields generally 2 to 4 times of indigenous varieties
Wide scale implementation in 1966/1967
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Antecedents The Indian Subcontinent
Copyright 1973 A.K. ChakravartiGreen Revolution in India, Annals of the Association ofAmerican Geographers
Vol. 63. No. 3, September 1973
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Antecedents The Indian Subcontinent
Copyright 1973 A.K. ChakravartiGreen Revolution in India, Annals of the Association ofAmerican Geographers
Vol. 63. No. 3, September 1973
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The Science/Politics Connection
The Green Revolution was seen as a potentially useful tool in
reducing agrarian conflict by creating rural abundance.
The Asian peasantry at the time seen as incipientrevolutionaries and members of a potential communist
insurgency
The Colombo Plan of 1952
Agrarian reform was required to happen on the basis of
scientific and technological innovations
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The Science/Politics Connection
The Special Studies Bureau created at the behest of the U.S.foreign policy establishment and funded by the RockefellerFoundation (Shiva, P. 32)
Three major groups of international agencies wereresponsible in transferring the American model of agriculture toIndia (Shiva, P. 29):
Private American Foundations
Research, Training, Funding
U.S. Government
Logistical Support, Grants, Training
World Bank
Credit
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The Science/Politics Connection
Initial introduction of HYV seeds to India coincided with ashift in U.S. aid policy toward the third world
P.L. 480, a law under which the U.S. helped alleviate foodshortages in the third world through sale of domesticagricultural commodities on credit or grant terms
L.B.J. reversed this policy and stipulated certainrequirements for countries that wished to be eligible forfood aid the so-called short tether policy (Cleaver, P.
179) Faced with consecutive food shortages and an impending
food crisis in 1965-66, the Indian government was forcedinto accepting U.S. capital into the country
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The Science/Politics Connection
Green Revolution not simply a shift in agricultural
methods but a change in farming ideology
Indian farming traditionally based on preserving andbuilding on natures processes. (Shiva, P. 26)
Fluctuations in output and production (arguably) based on
interruptions in the flow of resources that made
productivity possible. (Siva, P. 26)
i.e. Land Alienation, Forest Reservation, Cash CropCultivation etc.
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The Science/Politics Connection
The Green Revolution was based on the assumption thattechnology is a superior substitute for nature, and hence ameans of producing limitless growth, unconstrained by natures
limits. (Shiva, P. 24)
Technological transformation of farming methods clearly mustresult in widespread social change in a rural society
The Green Revolution was capital intensive and reliedheavily on external inputs
Most requisite capital could only be provided by foreignersdue to the disparity in technological development
Eventually led to increased competition;disenfranchisement of local input providers etc.
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The Science/Politics Connection Subsistence farming as traditionally practiced by farmers in the
Indian Punjab is difficult to continue due to marketdependence
The farmer must buy manufactured inputs and sell part of
his crop to buy more inputs for the next growing cycle HYV seeds need large amounts of fertilizer and pesticides
HYV seeds could only be planted in regions that were alreadycomparatively well-developed because of the need for anassured irrigation supply
This serves to accentuate regional economic disparities aswell as inter-class conflicts, e.g. between the landed andlandless
It also leads to reliance of less developed areas on thosewhich are better developed
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The Science/Politics Connection
Rapid decline in returns on investment led to widespread
disillusionment amongst Punjabi farmers
1971, Returns on Investment were 27% 1978, Returns sink to less than two percent
Even larger farmers began to experience indebtedness
and economic dislocation
In the areas most affected by the Green Revolution, the
proportion of people below a bare minimum level of livingactually increased. (Bardhan, P. 1062-1063)
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The Science/Politics Connection
No mention made so far concerning the ecological aspects
Loss of genetic diversity
Over fertilization
Soil erosion
Water conflicts
Environmental and ecological issues, particularly in agrarian
societies, are always political
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Outlook for Final Paper
History, Development, Inception
Focus on immediate social and political impact, particularly the
domestic aspects
The Green Revolution as Science Governance
How were scientific development adapted to serve political
agendas?
To what extent was the Green Revolution truly political? Success or failure? (Both as political instrument and as
technological innovation)
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