Which of the followings HYV seeds is/are associated with the Green Revolution in India?

(A) Rice

(B) Wheat

The correct answer is Both A and B.

Key Points

• Green Revolution in India : 
  • At independence, about 75 per cent of the country’s population was dependent on agriculture.
  • Productivity in the agricultural sector was very low because of the use of old technology and the absence of the required infrastructure for the vast majority of farmers.
  • India’s agriculture vitally depends on the monsoon and if the monsoon fell short the farmers were in trouble unless they had access to irrigation facilities which very few had.
  • The stagnation in agriculture during colonial rule was permanently broken by the green revolution.
  • This refers to the large increase in the production of food grains resulting from the use of high-yielding variety (HYV) seeds, especially for wheat and rice. 
  • The use of these seeds required the use of fertilizer and pesticide in the correct quantities as well as a regular supply of water; the application of these inputs in correct proportions is vital. 
  • The farmers who could benefit from HYV seeds required reliable irrigation facilities as well as financial resources to purchase fertilizer and pesticides.
  • As a result, in the first phase of the green revolution (the approximately mid-1960s up to mid-1970s), the use of HYV seeds was restricted to the more affluent states such as Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
  • Further, the use of HYV seeds primarily benefited the wheat-growing regions only. In the second phase of the green revolution (the mid-1970s to mid-1980s), the HYV technology spread to a larger number of states and benefited more variety of crops.
  • The spread of green revolution technology-enabled India to achieve self-sufficiency in food grains; we no longer had to be at the mercy of America, or any other nation, for meeting our nation’s food requirements.