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 here:

Food entitlement deficit (FED) suggests
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 1950’s
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


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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,
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)
Consumer concerns
began in Europe,
now in U.S. too
“FRANKENFOODS”
GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROPS - WORLDWIDE
120
100
millions of acres
80
60
40
20
0
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROPS - 2000
Others, 9%
Argentina, 23%
USA, 68%
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
First calf cloned in
Wisconsin, 1997.
Many clones die
of complications.
Ethical and
economic conflicts
San Francisco
Farmers’ Market
Minneapolis airport
flower stand