Page 266 - Environment: The Science Behind the Stories

wheat, rice, corn, and other crops from industrialized nations.
When Borlaug died in 2009 at age 95, he was widely cele-
brated as having “saved more lives than anyone in history”—
perhaps as many as a billion.

The Green Revolution brought mixed
consequences

Along with the new grains, developing nations imported the
methods of industrial agriculture. They began applying large
amounts of synthetic fertilizers and chemical pesticides on
their fields, irrigating crops generously with water, and using
more machinery powered by fossil fuels. From 1900 to 2000,
people increased energy inputs into agriculture by 80 times
while expanding the world’s cultivated area by just 33%.
This high-input agriculture succeeded dramatically in
producing more corn, wheat, rice, and soybeans from each
Figure 10.5 Norman Borlaug helped launch the Green hectare of land. Intensified agriculture saved millions in India
Revolution. The high-yielding, disease-resistant wheat that he from starvation in the 1970s and eventually turned that nation
bred helped boost agricultural productivity in many developing into a net exporter of grain (Figure 10.6).
countries.

bloating of the abdomen, deterioration and discoloration of 300 Production 300
Production per person
hair, mental disability, immune suppression, developmen- 250 250
tal delays, anemia, and reduced growth. Protein deficiency 200 200
together with a lack of calories can lead to marasmus, which
causes wasting or shriveling among millions of children in Grain production (million metric tons) 150 150 Grain production per person (kg)
the developing world. 100 100

The Green Revolution boosted agricultural 50 50
production 0 0

The desire for greater quantity and quality of food for our 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
growing population led in the mid- and late 20th century to
the Green Revolution (first introduced in Chapter 9, p. 236). (a) Production and per-capita production rose
Realizing that farmers could not go on forever cultivating
additional land to increase crop output, agricultural scientists 10
devised methods and technologies to increase crop output per
unit area of existing cultivated land. As a result, industrialized
nations dramatically increased their per-area yields. The aver- 5 Exports
age hectare of U.S. cornfield raised its corn output fivefold CHAPTER 10 • A g R i C ulT u RE , Bi o TECH nology, A nd THE Fu T u RE o F Food
during the 20th century, for instance. Many people viewed
such growth in production and efficiency as key to ending Net grain trade (million metric tons) 0
starvation in developing nations.
The transfer of technology to the developing world that -5 Imports
marked the Green Revolution began in the 1940s, when
American agricultural scientist Norman Borlaug intro-
duced Mexico’s farmers to a specially bred type of wheat -10
(Figure 10.5). This strain of wheat produced large seed heads, 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
was resistant to diseases, was short in stature to resist wind, Year
and produced high yields. Within two decades of plant-
ing this new crop, Mexico tripled its wheat production and (b) Imports turned to exports
began exporting wheat. The stunning success of this program Figure 10.6 Green Revolution technology enabled India
inspired others. Borlaug—who won the Nobel Peace Prize for to boost its grain production. India’s production grew faster
his work—took his wheat to India and Pakistan and helped than its population (a), so that grain per person increased. As
transform agriculture there. a result (b), India was able to stop importing grain and begin
Soon many developing countries were doubling, tripling, exporting it to other nations. Data from U.N. Food and Agriculture
or quadrupling their yields using selectively bred strains of Organization (FAO). 265

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