Keynote Address:An Assessment of Technology Development from the Green Revolution to Today
JIRCAS international symposium series
ISSN | 13406108 |
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NII recode ID (NCID) | AA1100908X |
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During the late 1960s/70s, the Green Revolution drew the entire world's attention to the power of new technologies to accelerate agricultural development. Massive famines, considered inevitable by some, were avoided just in the nick of time through the hard work and dedication of international and national researchers working closely with government officials, agricultural ministries, extension services, non-governmental organizations, and related agencies.
This success story remains one of the shining achievements of our time. But the very architects of that revolution cautioned the world not to take it for granted, that it would be difficult if not impossible to repeat. While the Green Revolution had bought time, it could not derail the collision course between population growth and food production.
After the initial production leap due to the Green Revolution, the 1970s/80s were a period of steady but less dramatic progress, as researchers consolidated the gains of the high-yielding varieties by· improving their resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses, their eating quality, and their agronomic traits, and assisted national programs in furthering their extension to the farm.
With the food problem seemingly under control, the world's attention shifted to other issues such as environmental degradation, social equity, and poverty. Some even became suspicious of the Green Revolution, providing some evidence that wealthier farmers with larger, high-quality landholdings and access to inputs were more able to capitalize on the new technologies, leaving the rural poor further behind than before.
In response, researchers were asked to address the very challenging objectives of using technology to improve equity, decrease gender gaps, and bias benefits towards the poorest of the poor living in marginal production areas. In many ways these issues were more difficult to deal with than the original Green Revolution technologies, and the gains were likely to be much less dramatic and slower in coming. Despite these initial doubts, impacts in these areas are now emerging as substantial and well targeted towards poverty reduction.
At present, many are pinning their hopes on biotechnology and information/communication technology to provide another major jump in production comparable to the Green Revolution. At the same time, there is an increasing realization that with the globalization of agriculture, commodity prices are likely to decline and efficient production will be the key to survival in agriculture, as in other industries. Inefficient producers and production systems will fall by the wayside. The future may lie in adapting the cropping systems to environmental diversity, making the most of the different natural resources endowments of different agro-ecozones rather than homogenizing the environment through costly inputs.
This success story remains one of the shining achievements of our time. But the very architects of that revolution cautioned the world not to take it for granted, that it would be difficult if not impossible to repeat. While the Green Revolution had bought time, it could not derail the collision course between population growth and food production.
After the initial production leap due to the Green Revolution, the 1970s/80s were a period of steady but less dramatic progress, as researchers consolidated the gains of the high-yielding varieties by· improving their resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses, their eating quality, and their agronomic traits, and assisted national programs in furthering their extension to the farm.
With the food problem seemingly under control, the world's attention shifted to other issues such as environmental degradation, social equity, and poverty. Some even became suspicious of the Green Revolution, providing some evidence that wealthier farmers with larger, high-quality landholdings and access to inputs were more able to capitalize on the new technologies, leaving the rural poor further behind than before.
In response, researchers were asked to address the very challenging objectives of using technology to improve equity, decrease gender gaps, and bias benefits towards the poorest of the poor living in marginal production areas. In many ways these issues were more difficult to deal with than the original Green Revolution technologies, and the gains were likely to be much less dramatic and slower in coming. Despite these initial doubts, impacts in these areas are now emerging as substantial and well targeted towards poverty reduction.
At present, many are pinning their hopes on biotechnology and information/communication technology to provide another major jump in production comparable to the Green Revolution. At the same time, there is an increasing realization that with the globalization of agriculture, commodity prices are likely to decline and efficient production will be the key to survival in agriculture, as in other industries. Inefficient producers and production systems will fall by the wayside. The future may lie in adapting the cropping systems to environmental diversity, making the most of the different natural resources endowments of different agro-ecozones rather than homogenizing the environment through costly inputs.
Creator | William D. Dar Mark D. Winslow |
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Publisher | Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences |
Available Online | |
Issue | 9 |
Language | eng |