Strategies to increase food production
The Green Revolution: Punjab case study
Starter
What does this graph suggest about the Green Revolution?
Learning Objectives
• To understand how the Green Revolution increased food
supply in the Punjab, India.
• To be able to critically evaluate the pros and cons of the
Green Revolution.
What is the Green Revolution?
A package of modern, western-style farming techniques
used to transform agriculture in developing countries.
It’s aims:
• A technological fix to increase yields of staple foods,
feed the world, and prove Malthus wrong.
• Ending subsistence farming and replacing it with
commercial farming.
• Increasing self-sufficiency of LEDCs.
Activity: How did the Green Revolution occur?
Read the text about the development of the Green
Revolution and use the words below to fill in the gaps.
The Green Revolution in India
Annotate/highlight your information sheet as we go
through the slides.
Background:
• In 1943, the worst recorded
food disaster occurred in
India, known as the Bengal
famine.
• Four million people died of
starvation in eastern India
alone, largely due to a
shortfall in food production.
The Green Revolution in India
Background continued:
• Consequently, food security became one of the main
items on ‘free’ India’s agenda.
• By 1964 many farmers in India were short of food,
lacked a balanced diet and had an extremely low standard
of living.
• The government had limited resources and decided to try
to improve farm technology to overcome the crisis.
Case study focus: Punjab, India
Label Punjab on your map and
add notes to it.
• The Punjab is a state in
north-western India,
straddling the border
between India and Pakistan.
• It is known as the ‘land of the
five rivers’ and thought to be
one of the most fertile places
in the world.
Strategies to increase food supply in Punjab
1. Continued expansion of farming areas
• The area of land under
cultivation had been
increasing since 1947, but
it was not enough in
meeting rising demand.
Strategies to increase food supply in Punjab
2. Double-cropping existing farmland
• Instead of one crop season per year, there would be two
crop seasons per year.
• Artificial ‘monsoon’ in the form of huge irrigation
projects.
Strategies to increase food supply in Punjab
3. Using seeds with superior genetics
•
18,000 tonne of Mexican HYV
wheat seeds were imported.
•
The Indian Council for
Agricultural Research
developed new strains of HYV
seeds, mainly wheat and rice,
but also millet and corn. K68
variety of wheat is most
noteworthy.
Strategies to increase food supply in Punjab
4. Technologies were developed
•
Large amounts of fertiliser were imported.
•
Tractors were introduced to replace water buffalo.
Impacts of the Green Revolution in Punjab
1960
1970
Land irrigated by tube wells
35
70
Fertiliser application
19.7
271.3
Area under HYVs (ha)
69
169,972
Wheat yields kg/ha
1552.3
3676.3
Tractors
500
2500-5000
1. Describe the impact of the Green Revolution between 1960
and 1970.
2. Compare the experience of rich landowners compared to
small farmers.
Prep
Evaluate the successes and failures of the Green Revolution.
1. Read the information in the table categorise the
advantages/disadvantages into social, economic and
environmental.
2. Use this information, classwork and pages 214-215 in
your text book to answer the two exam questions.