Failures of Green Revolution in India

Although green revolution led to increased production and economic betterment of the well to do farmers, but there is a dark aspect of this development. On several fronts, our institutional and political dispensation failed miserably, leading to current farmer distress. They have been discussed as below:

• The improved dwarf varieties of wheat and rice required more water, use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The new development needed Integrated Pest Management and Integrated Nutrient Management. The large fertilizers, seeds and pesticides companies launched massive campaigns to sell their products and this led to inordinate use of these inputs resulting in alarming rate of groundwater depletion and soil degradation.
• The lack of coherence between institutional credit, price support system and cost of inputs led to peasant indebtedness. They got burdened with debts from banks or moneylenders / commission agents.
• The worst consequence of green revolution has been the terrific water pollution; salinity; water logging.

Dr M.S. Swaminathan had forewarned as early as 1968 that: “Intensive cultivation of land without conservation of soil fertility and soil structure would lead ultimately to the springing of deserts. Irrigation without arrangements for drainage would result in soil getting alkaline or saline. The indiscriminate use of pesticides, fungicide and herbicide could….lead to an increase in the incidence of cancer and other diseases through the toxic residue present in the grains or other edible parts.”