Advantages and Disadvantages of White and Green Revolution.
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Answer:
The Third Agricultural Revolution, which is commonly referred to as the “Green Revolution,” refers to a set of initiatives in the field of research technologies that began in the 1950s and finished in the late 1960s. The result of this information transfer to the agricultural industries resulted in a significant increase in production around the world, with an emphasis in heightened productivity in developing countries.
The Green Revolution resulted in the creation of high-yielding crops, with notable improvements in rice and wheat, along with the use of controlled water supplies, chemical fertilizers, and agriculture-based chemicals to enhance the growing process. There were also new methods of cultivation introduced during this time, including mechanization, that superseded the traditional technologies that were used in the past.
Although Normal Borlaug is credited with being the “father” of the Green Revolution, the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations were heavily involved with the funding that helped to get these new technologies off the ground in the first place.
We can certainly feed more people and produce higher yields with greater consistency because of the Green Revolution, but there are some specific disadvantages that we must consider as well when looking at this important part of human history.
List of the Advantages of the Green Revolution
1. It may be helping to reduce the number of greenhouse gas emissions.
The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States performed a research study in 2013 that looked at the influence of the Green Revolution on greenhouse gas emissions. In the absence of the improvements made in crop growth during this time, the level of emissions could have been up to 7.4 Gt higher than what they were observed through 2004. The high-yield approach to agriculture has a dramatic impact on how carbon cycles through the atmosphere.
2. It allows us to produce more food than traditional growing methods.
Thanks to the processes which are present because of the Green Revolution, our planet currently produces about 20% more calories through crop production and livestock support than is necessary to meet the nutritional minimums of the current global population. Although some estimates suggest that we might need 70% more kcal availability by 2050 than what is available today, the techniques we continue to develop because of Borlaug’s work allow us to meet this demand level without creating additional environmental problems.
3. It provides us with consistent yields during uncooperative seasons.
The Green Revolution adds resiliency to our crops because it focuses on varieties that can produce high yields in a variety of environmental situations. Although there is a need for phosphorus and other nutrients when there is a focused on prolonged production, the new strains that came from Borlaug’s work allow for yields to have consistency even when a regular season might wipe out a crop.
In 1993, conditions in the Midwest were so unfavorable for growing corn that some farmers had to plow their fields under to lose the entire crop since the plants were not maturing as they should have been. Those that were able to rescue their fields were the ones who put the practices of the Green Revolution into their farming techniques.
4. It causes a reduction in food prices for the global economy.
The agricultural markets are based on supply and demand. When yields are more consistent, then the supply becomes more available. High-yield crops produce more items for harvest, which means additional food is available to consumers. This advantage helps to lower prices for everyone while farmers gain additional profits because they can produce more on less land. Even consumers in developing countries have better food access because of these technologies.
Some regions were able to triple their outputs because of the technologies and growing practices introduced by the Green Revolution. That means two additional people were able to have their nutritional quotas met using the same land in just 20 years of agricultural reform.
5. It has reduced the issues of deforestation on our planet.
Although there can be issues in some parts of the world with deforestation because the practices from the Green Revolution are depleting the soil of its nutrients, the impact of these modern techniques has helped the world protect itself from the growing need for more food. This advantage allows us to protect the environment while working to meet the needs of individual households.
Since 1961, human population levels have doubled in our world. At the same time, the amount of food that we have grown using our space has tripled. During this period of expansion, natural lands were converted into new cropland at a rate that was just 10% higher than what happened in the 1950s.
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