Second Green Revolution for Sustainable Growth in IndianAgriculture

The main aim of this paper is to analyze the causes, advantages and problems of fist green revolution and need for asecond green revolution in Indian agriculture sector. In 1951 the well irrigated area in India was only 17% India‟scurrent deficit was increasing. In 1950‟s and 1960‟s India was frequently visited by floods and cyclones so the cropproduction was fluctuating. Farmers did not receive the true value for their crop and the crop distribution was notproper. People suffered from starvation and malnutrition. Farmers were financially weak and banks did not providecredit to the farmers and money lenders were demanding high interest. The demand for food was much higher thanthe production which called for the first green revolution. Then the first green revolution was launched to ensure thefood security as there was severe scarcity of food in the country which boost to the agriculture sector across thecountry. Due to first green revolution India‟s food output, which was 72.3 million tonnes in 1966 rose to 108.4million tonnes by 1971 which helped to overcome food shortage & banish the spectre of starvation or living fromship to mouth. But, today it has been found out that the areas which witnessed the green revolution are sufferingfrom problems of environmental degradation and due to excessive crop rotation land quality has decreased.Therefore, there is need for a second green revolution that is more broad-based, more inclusive and moresustainable. For this it is required to produce more without depleting natural resources any further, and for thispurpose our agricultural scientists should contribute for ushering in this green revolution. Because by year 2020-21the total demand for foodgrain is projected to touch 285 million tonnes not only for foodgrain but also for fruit,vegetables and animal products. At present, the country allocates about 0.6% of its agricultural GDP on agriculturalresearch and development. This needs to be enhanced at least by 2-3 times by 2020. The present paper examine theconsequences of first green revolution which make need for a broad based and sustainable second green revolutionfor meeting rising demands of food and ensuring the nutritional security. The present paper enforce on therequirement of second science- based green revolution which will be more inclusive and more sustainable.

Keywords:

first green revolution , consequences , second green revolution , sustainable agriculture