BJP TODAY

May 1--15, 2004 - Vol. 13, No. 09

Second Green Revolution to be launched on August 15, 2004
By Arabinda Ghose

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has pledged in its "Agenda for Development, Good Governance and Peace" that if re-elected it would launch the Second Green Revolution on August 15, 2004 "which will lead to an "evergreen revolution".

In its Agenda, the NDA also says that it is committed to making India, " a food factory of the world".
Like other objectives in the document released on April 8, both these are clearly very ambitious and not quite easy to accomplish unless there is total co-operation between the Centre and the States since Agriculture is a State subject under the Constitution. The Agenda does speak of making efforts for securing the participation of the States in implementing its objective.

However, let us first see what actually is proposed to be done under the Second Green Revolution and what was, in the first place, the objectives of the first green revolution. For this, we will first have to go back to the tumultous years of a famine —like situation and like a miracle, almost at the same time, sudden explosion, as it were, of wheat productivity in the Punjab-Haryana region after the introduction of the "miracle" wheat seed.

It was not for nothing that during the war with Pakistan in September 1965, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri had given the slogan of "Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan" and had also called upon countrymen to forego at least one meal a week- on Mondays. For the first time in history, Indian forces had actually crossed her own borders and launched an attack on a foreign country- Pakistan - in 1965 when "Tribals", once again, had attacked Kashmir. We had won the war which made us proud of the jawans. We, however, lost Shastriji in January 1966 at Tashkent. Indira Gandhi took over as the Prime Minister the same month.

However, the south-west monsoon, which had played truant in 1965, had once again failed in 1966. There was a rare occurrence of two droughts during two consecutive years, which had created a famine-like situation in the country. Even though the United States was angry with India at that time because we had been consistently opposing its Vietnam policy, Indira Gandhi made a request on telephone to President Lyndon Johnson to enhance the supply of wheat under the P.L. 480 (public law 480) scheme which had envisaged that the price will be paid in rupees to be deposited in U.S. Embassy account in India and mercifully not in dollars which India could not afford at that point of time.

Ten million tonnes of wheat imported under P.L. 480 had averted the famine, and since the 1967 monsoon rainfall was normal, the situation had eased considerably, although imports were still taking place.

Now even as the war was being fought, a renowed agricultural scientist Dr. Norman Borlaug, was carrying a small consignment of a new wheat seed from Mexico for experimentation in India (as also in Pakistan). The seeds came to India a little later than the appropritate time of sowing for experimentation at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI or Pusa Institute), New Delhi to see if it gave higher productivity. Proper irrigation and application of fertilisers resulted, by April 1966, in very encouraging results.

Agriculture Minister C. Subramaniam and scientists Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, Dr. A.B. Joshi, Dr. Mathur and others, decided to take up large-scale replication of this experiment and orders were placed for importing 18,000 tonnes of this seed for next year's experiments on farmers' fields. Despite objections from some people, the import was affected and during the winter of 1966-67, the seeds gave extremely encouraging results.

In 1967 winter, farmers of Punjab and Haryana regions (the two States were still one at that time) where the Bhakra system had provided adequate irrigation and electricity, were sold these new seeds at a rate of Rs.1 per seed. Yes, Rs. 1 per seed, or Rs. 3000 per kilogram. Even before this wheat was harvested, the promise was so great that the Government of India issued a postage stamp in March 1968 to mark the occasion of an explosive growth in productivity. When the wheat was harvested, schools had to be closed down in order to provide space to store the wheat. An United States Agency for International Development (USAID) officer named this phenomenon the "Green Revolution".

This was the first green revolution which has seen wheat production in the country rise form a mere six million tonnes a year to now nearly 80 million tonnes (expected during the current year). A similar "miracle" at the Philippine-based International Rice Research Institute resulted in the green revolution in rice too and this year the production is likely to cross the 100 million tonnes mark.

The green revolution of 1968-69 was followed by the white revolution in milk (with 84-85 million tonnes a year India has the highest production milk in the world), the blue revolution (in fisheries) and the yellow revolution (in edible oil, particularly rapeseed/mustard). In fruits and vegetables too India ranks very high in the world. However, these are still not sufficient for a country which is likely to have a population of 130 to 140 crores in future and where the consumption pattern and demands are changing fast. So, there is need for looking at agriculture afresh and make India not only self-sufficient in all farm produce but also become the "food factory of the world". Hence the need for a second green revolution. Let us examine now what are going to be the components of this second green revolution leading to an "evergreen revolution.

The document says that the "second green revolution" will follow a strategy distinctly different from the one that defined the first green revolution. The latter had focussed mainly on popularisation of high-yielding crop varieties to overcome food shortage. In contrast, the second green revolution will embrace the entire agro-economy, from the farmer to the consumer. It will harness a bouquet of new technologies, space, IT (Information Technology) and BT (bio- technology), It will also focus on water-efficient irrigation systems, environment-friendly pesticides, precision agriculture, agriculture markets, food processing, rural infrastructure etc.

Many of these activities are looked after by various ministries and departments. The Agenda says that for better co-ordination, a Cabinet Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development will be set up.

One of the components for a second green revolution would be launching of an action plan for massive crop diversification, multi-cropping and doubling of per-hectare yield of crops. Every village will be encouraged to set its own yearly targets. Successful farmers will be suitably recognised.

Efforts will be intensified for achieving self-sufficiency in pulses and oilseeds within five years. Horticulture and floriculture will be doubled in five years. Vegetable cultivation and mushroom farming, specially near towns and citites, will be promoted.

(Other aspects in the Agenda relating to agriculture are being dealt with in another article on farming-Ed).