What were the results of the 'green' revolution in India

Environmental destruction, poverty, malnutrition, depleted and poisoned soils, small farmers in abject poverty and indebtedness to Rockefeller and Big Agrochemicals

Lessons From the Aftermaths of Green Revolution on Food System and Health

‘The introduction of genetic variants of rice and wheat and pesticides was the solution for malnutrition, but it led to environmental destruction in a few years. In the short term, food scarcity might rise again due to increased water depletion and soil damage. Any new interventions should be carefully introduced not to disrupt other systems to prevent future adversities.

A domino effect is expected to occur when there is any disruption in the ecosystem, such that if even one link in the food chain is affected, it affects other parts of the chain also. Most of the ecological disruption is by human intervention (Vaz et al., 2005). Pesticides used for agricultural activities are released to the environment through air drift, leaching, and run-off and are found in soil, surface, and groundwater. This can contaminate soil, water, and other vegetation. Pesticide residues are found to be present in almost all habitats and are detected in both marine and terrestrial animals (Choudhary et al., 2018). The mechanisms include absorption through the gills or teguments, which is bioconcentration, as well as through the consumption of contaminated food, called biomagnification or bioamplification. In marine systems, seagrass beds and coral reefs were found to have very high concentrations of persistent organic pollutants (Dromard et al., 2018). It also affects the activities of insects and microbes. It kills insects and weeds, is toxic to other organisms, such as birds and fish, and contaminates meat products, such as chicken, goat, and beef. This can lead to bioaccumulation in human beings along with poor food safety, thus impairing nutrition and health. Repeated application leads to loss of biodiversity (Choudhary et al., 2018). Consumption of pesticide-laden food can lead to loss of appetite, vomiting, weakness, abdominal cramps, etc. (Gerage et al., 2017). There is a decline in the number of pollinators, for instance, the destruction of bumblebee colonies that are an important group of pollinators on a global scale (Baron et al., 2017). There is an extinction of honeybee populations, and it poses a great threat to the survival of human beings (Hagopian, 2017). The residue level of these pesticides depends on the organism's habitat and position in the food chain. This is a serious issue because the predicted usage of pesticides is that it will be doubled in the coming years (Choudhary et al., 2018).

In addition, it is not nearly possible to get back the lost varieties of indigenous rice. Likewise, further advancements should not lead to the extinction of the other indigenous varieties of grains, such as millets.

In conclusion, the effects of the green revolution are persisting. The green revolution, which was beneficial in ensuring food security, has unintended but harmful consequences on agriculture and human health. This requires new interventions to be tested and piloted before implementation, and continuous evaluation of the harms and benefits should guide the implementation. An already fragile food system is affected due to the aftermaths of the green revolution. The potential negative impacts are not part of the discourse as it can affect the narratives of development and prosperity. Developments introduced due to necessity may not be sustainable in the future. Organic ways of farming need to be adopted for sustainable agricultural practices. Similarly, alternative agriculture techniques, such as intercropping, Zero Budget Natural Farming can be practiced (eliminating chemicals, minimum til, local seeds) because of the positive outputs obtained…There is a need for a systems approach in dealing with food insecurity and malnutrition and other similar issues. Like the already mentioned example, the green revolution was brought in to reduce the problem of reduced yield. ‘

Now, there is a green revolution 2 that is planned;

The Next Green Revolution Modern supercrops will be a big help. But agriculture can’t be fixed by biotech alone.

‘In 2004 an international consortium of researchers mapped the entire rice genome, which comprises some 40,000 individual genes. Since then, researchers around the world have been pinpointing genes that control valuable traits and can be selected directly... If they succeed, the same techniques might help enhance the productivity of potatoes, wheat, and other C3 plants. It would be an unprecedented boon to food security; in theory yields (and profits for Big Ag) could jump by 50 percent (taking genetic potential and fertility for today and causing ecological collapse tomorrow).’

Before such interventions are taken, environmental risk assessments and other evaluation studies should be conducted (ya think?)’.

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