The challenge of feeding increasing numbers of people in the developing world has been the target of large-scale technological fixes
The green revolution of the 1960s and the Gene Revolution of the 1990s both sought to bring about a dramatic rise in food production
Developing world farmers were encouraged to leapfrog from centuries-old farming systems into a high-tech world
Green Revolution
In the green revolution high-yielding varieties of crops such as rice and wheat were selectively bred (hybridised) from thousands of varieties to increase yields.
In order to achieve maximum yields a new farming system involving fertilisers, irrigation and pesticides had to be adopted
Research institutes such as the international rice research institute, funded by donors such as the Ford, Rockefeller and gates foundations
The first crop, a rice varitety known as IR8, was dubbed 'miracle rice'. Other varieties replaced IR8 as it was found to succumb to diseases and pests
HYV rice is grown
extensively in Asia.
HYV wheat is grown in Latin America.
Very few HYV crops have succeeded in Africa
Rapid-growing varieties of rice allow two crops per year, with yields up to 10 times those for traditional rice
HYVs are now bred to be resistant to pests and diseases such as the stem borer and blast disease
HYV rice allowed India to become self-sufficient in rice by 1980
Yields of
wheat, rice
and maize
grew by over
2% per year
between 1967
and 1996
Although yield growth slowed to 1-1/5% between 1997 and 2006
Gene Revolution
The gene revolution is
based on genetically
modified varieties of
cotton, rice, maize and
soybean
The DNS of the crop is altered by genetic engineering to
produce new characteristics such as tolerance to drought and
resistance to pesticides, herbicides and pests
The two revolutions involved different technologies, and also have different origins and geographies