THE GREEN REVOLUTION

(The Third Agricultural Revolution)

And Biotechnology

THOMAS MALTHUS

19th century economist

Believed that because population grows

geometrically and food production
arithmetically famine was inevitable.

Slowing the growth of population was the only

possibility to prevent starvation

History (so far) has proven Malthus wrong . . .

INCREASE IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION PER CAPITA

There are two important

terms to bear in mind
Food entitlement deficit (FED) suggests
here:
that food shortages were caused by a lack of
wages/income (rising costs of food relative to
average incomes)

Food availability deficit (FAD) suggests that

food shortages were caused by local
difficulties in supply, perhaps the result of
drought or floods

What is the Green

Revolution

The term Green Revolution refers to the

renovation of agricultural practices
beginning in Mexico in the 1940s.
Because of its success in producing
more agricultural products there, Green
Revolution technologies spread
worldwide in the 1950s and 1960s,
significantly increasing the amount of
calories produced per acre of
agriculture.

The crops developed during the Green

Revolution were high yield varieties meaning they were domesticated plants
bred specifically to respond to fertilizers
and produce an increased amount of
grain per acre planted.

GREEN REVOLUTION

A complex of improvements which greatly

increased agricultural production
Since 1950s
Greatest effect felt in
LDCs
Agricultural output
outpaced population
growth even without
adding additional
cropland

Adoption of new,
improved varieties of
grains
Application of better
agricultural techniques

Irrigation
Mechanization
Use of fertilizer
Use of pesticides

Principal Beneficiaries of the Green Revolution

WHEAT
Mexico
Egypt
Turkey

RICE
Thailand
Vietnam
Korea
Indonesia

BOTH
India
China
Pakistan

Golden Rice
THE GREAT YELLOW HOPE

In 1982, the Rockefeller

Foundation funded research
into rice varieties to promote
global health
Nutritionally enhanced rice
Used a daffodil gene
Rice now produces beta-carotene
The body converts beta-carotene

to vitamin A
Blindness in LDCs is caused by
vitamin A deficiencies

Time Magazine declares: This

rice could save a million kids a
year.
Greenpeace acknowledged:
Golden rice is a moral
challenge to our position.

Golden Rice
THE GREAT YELLOW HYPE

An 11 year-old child would need to

eat 15 pounds of golden rice a day
to satisfy the minimum daily
requirement of vitamin A
Conversion of beta-carotene to
vitamin A requires fat and protein in
the diet (these are lacking in LDCs)
Asians may not want to eat golden
rice they prefer white rice over the
more nutrient rich brown rice which
has always existed
Education to push golden rice costs
money why not just hand out
vitamin A?
Golden rice cost more than $100
million to develop it is just a PR
stunt for genetically altered foods

 Green Revolution
benefits
Core exports high-yield miracle seeds
Needed oil-based fertilizers, pesticides
Asian rice crop up 66% in 1965-85
Favored areas with good soil, weather

 Green Revolution

 Green Revolution
drawbacks
Favored farmers who could afford seeds,

Favored farmers who could afford seeds,

inputs, machines, irrigation

Indebted farmers lost land, moved to cities

New monocrops lacked resistance to
disease/pests
Environmental contamination, erosion
Oriented to export cash crops, not domestic
food

Biotechnology:
Using organisms to
Make or modify products
Improve plants or animals
Develop new microorganisms
Crossing natural divides between species
Not just crossbreeding

Genetic Engineering

Genetically Modified
Organisms (GMO)

Consumerconcerns
beganinEurope,
nowinU.S.too

FRANKENFOODS

Biotechnology
benefits in agriculture
Increase yields
Increase pest resistance
Grow crops in new areas

Biotechnology
drawbacks in agriculture
High costs (available to few)
Monocrops have less tolerance to disease
Possible health effects
Contamination of wild crops (superweeds)
Corporate patents on life forms

Bovine Growth
Hormone (BGH)

Starlink corn

Firstcalfclonedin
Wisconsin,1997.
Manyclonesdie
ofcomplications.
Ethicaland
economicconflicts

SanFrancisco
FarmersMarket

Minneapolisairport
flowerstand