Improving Agriculture in Less Economically Developed Countries There are two ways agricultural production can be improved. One is by increasing the amount of land farmed, for example the Aswan Dam irrigation scheme doubled the amount of farm land in Egypt. The other is by producing more from the same area of land by intensifying agriculture and increasing increasing yields .. The Green Revolution The Green Revolution was seen as the scientific answer to the shortage of food in the crowded areas of the LEDC's of South East Asia, where land was already scarce by increasing crop yields.
The Green Revolution began in the Philippines in the fields of the International Rice Research Institute in. Scientists were experimenting by cross breeding various types of rice from across Asia in an attempt to produce a hybrid strain of rice that would be more productive than traditional types of rice. These strains of rice were referred to as High Yielding Varieties (HYV). Traditional types of rice grew quite well in the LEDC's of Asia but had their limitations. The main problem was that they had evolved to make the most of limited soil fertility. They grew fast and tall to beat the weeds to the sunlight and they developed large root systems in order to gain maximum nutrients from the soil. As a result they had to be quite widely spaced or they would be competing with each other for sunlight and nutrients. Therefore yields were quite low. If fertilisers were added to these plants they would grow too tall and would collapse destroying some of the grain. The International Rice Research Institute had its first major breakthrough in 1963. One of their experiments involved crossing a short, stiff strawed rice from Taiwan with a taller variety from Indonesia that was resistant to disease. This hybrid strain of rice was called IR8 because it was the 8th cross they had made. Three years later this rice was released to farmers. It was dubbed "miracle rice. As crop yields were at least twice as high as those of traditional rice. With good farming methods and efficient irrigation schemes yields could quadruple those of traditional rice. The HYV rice was much smaller and could be grown much closer together without blocking sunlight. The short stiff stem was much more rigid and could hold more grain without collapsing. The root system was much smaller as they were bred to gain all the nutrients they needed from chemical fertilisers rather than the soil. Scientific experiments led to further improvements in HYV rice. Strains were developed that could grow much more quickly. Traditional rice took 150 to 170 days IR36, a successor of IR8, only 105 days. Areas that grew 2 crops a year with traditional rice could grow 3 crops in one year. Later strains were also much more pest and disease resistant and the taste improved.  Traditional Rice..............................New HYV Rice HYV rice is grown in 70% of the world's rice lands and it has helped to more than double word-wide rice production. The increase provides enough rice to feed 700 million people.
So why are some people not happy about HYV rice? HYV rice is "highly tuned" hybrid rice. This means it grows very well provided that it receives the right amount of water through irrigation, and precise doses of chemical fertilisers and pesticides throughout growth. HYV rice produces sterile seeds and new rice has to be bought for planting each year. With traditional rice subsistence farmers kept some seeds back to plant next year's crop. Richer farmers have done well out of HYV rice. However the poorer SUBSISTENCE farmers who could not afford new seeds, chemicals and equipment to set up necessary irrigation schemes and their families did not benefit. Also training in new farming methods was needed to prepare farmers to use the new seeds and frequently this was not provided. In fact many of those who borrowed money to try and grow the new rice often fell into debt and lost their land in order to pay them off. HYV rice was more expensive to produce and therefore the farmers who grew it would often sell their rice to rich western markets where prices were higher. So it was likely that the new rice would not reach the people who needed it most. |