Turkey Blog #10. The cost of the Green Revolution.
A few decades ago millions of people were starving around the globe because
food production could not keep up with the rapidly growing populations of India and
China. This created an incentive to improve agriculture production around the world with
new technologies and innovations. The Green revolution started to develop in Mexico,
India, and other locations with Norman Borlaug, a Norwegian-American agronomist also
known as “the father of the green revolution.” Some of the new techniques introduced
were hybrid grain seeds, mainly wheat, rice and corn.
(Figure 1 World Cereals Production and Yields)
While the many mouths of India were fed because of this revolution in
agriculture, there have also been negative side effects to this change. Many farmers are
having to deal with the burdens of the new agricultural trade. Financial burdens like the
costs of fertilizers, special seeds, and irrigation pumps. This has caused such great
hardship for the farmers, that some have resorted to suicide because of the debt and
difficulty. Besides the dependence and cost, there are also health issues. One villager in
the rural Punjab was quoted saying this in a BBC article.
“There are health costs. We have had babies born blue because they are not
breathing. Some of them have mental health problems. In the southwestern belt, we
have entire villages where each family has at least one or two cancer cases. All this is
all because of this intensive agriculture that we have been doing.” (BBC)
The benefit we have from this agricultural green revolution is the ability to feed
the many millions in India, who would starve to death otherwise if not dependent on
other countries. And the result is a world population that is being sustained with an unnatural system of agriculture, in which countries around the world are dependent
upon.
(Figure 2- Agricultural Products of in Turkey)
Turkey in 1968 was breaking crop records during the Green Revolution.
Demonstrating that the country “can raise yields by two and three times with the new
wheats.” Nowadays the agriculture sector has declined over the years but not by much.
Crop production is 57%, the majority when you also count in animals, fisheries, and
forestry's. Turkey is still one of the worlds biggest wheat and barley producers, but they
produce one third of what an advanced country puts up every year in crops. The
government has stepped in and tried to control inflation of agriculture by making
programs like the The Southeastern Anatolian Project for farmers, that allow them to
afford the expensive equipment and irrigation canals. Programs like The Southeastern
Anatolian Project are costing the state of Turkey lots financial debt to pay. The
government of Turkey is having a hard time keeping the programs, and the farmers still
do not have stable incomes.
Text Sources
Gaud, William S. "The Green Revolution: Accomplishments and Apprehensions." Letter to
The Society for International Development. 8 Mar. 1968. The Green Revolution:
Accomplishments and Apprehensions. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.agbioworld.org/biotechinfo/topics/borlaug/borlauggreen.html>.
Sansal, Burak. "Agriculture in Turkey." Turkish Agriculture. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.allaboutturkey.com/agriculture.htm>.
Muthoo, Maharaj K., Dr. "New Agriculturist." : Country Profile. N.p., May 2000. Web. 03 Dec.
2014. <http://www.newag.info/en/country/profile.php?a=878>.
Figure Sources
Crops Agricultural Products of in Turkey. N.d. CIA WORLDFACT BOOK. Fanack.com. Web. 3
Dec. 2014. <http://fanack.com/en/countries/turkey/economy/agriculture/>.
"The Limits of a Green Revolution?" BBC News. BBC, 29 Mar. 2007. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6496585.stm>.
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