The very word green has plenty of connotations: organic, natural, good etc.
Yet India's "Green Revolution" that fed the hungry masses was anything but organic. The agrarian transformation was fuelled by an abundance of chemicals: fertilizers, pesticides and plenty of H2O. Even back then, some of the results -- starting with the stupendeous yields --must have seemed unnatural. Few, however, questioned the harsh means of ensuring such phenomenal yields. Has the time come for a rethink despite the global food crisis?
An excerpt from Mira Kamdar's dispatches for Slate titled On the Frontlines of the Global Food Crisis:
The nasty side effects of the Green Revolution have gotten only worse in the years since. The irrigation canals are drying up. Water tables are sinking. According to a new report from Punjabi University in Patiala, pesticide levels, among the most elevated in the world, are being blamed for actually altering the DNA of Punjabis exposed to them.
But there is hope. Leaders like Umendra have emerged to speak passionately about the near-forgotten methods of organic farming in the land of the five rivers.
The farmers who'd come to Umendra's workshop realized they were caught in a vicious cycle requiring them to buy more fertilizer and more pesticides, to invest more money in getting water while they watched pests become even more voracious and their soil fertility decline.
Seeds were also becoming more expensive. The farmers paid dearly for new hybrids that promised ever-greater yields. They paid even more for the new genetically engineered seeds whose very DNA was copyrighted, making it illegal for farmers to do what farmers have done since the dawn of agriculture: save seeds from one year to plant the next.
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3 comments:
Good point about the Green Revolution in India being anything but green. But isn't it really hard for a country like India to strike a good balance between organic and mass production? I guess I speak out of ignorance here, but wouldn't it require more labour and possibly a lower yield if we did not use pesticides? Would be we able to grow enough to feed our population? I do know the politics behind GM seeds (and how farmers become very dependent on the MNCs selling those seeds), but what could India have done to feed the millions without the green revolution?
Anaka back then was a different story.But now is definitely the time for a rethink : chemical overuse has become rampant.
Deepending on who you talk to
M.S. Swaminthan or Vandana Shiva you will get different answers on the future path .
I will make sure that my blog highlights both suggested courses of action.
Thanks for visiting and I think you are doing something terrific yourself as far as textiles go.
Yes you are right it was a different story back then. I think now the use of chemicals in every industry is accepted by most people without knowing there is a healthy alternative. At work, my staff are constantly prescribing medication for each other without having a clue when to take the meds, how often, what the side effects are, etc. Similarly with mass industrial farming, I don't know if people are aware of the damage being done to the soil and in turn the quality of produce. My ayurvedic doctor has started telling everyone to stop eating watermelons and salads because if you don't know the origin of the water and soil, it's better not to eat raw foods (watermelons contain more than 80% water, but what if that water is mixed with pesticides?).
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