1 / 10

A Watershed in Agricultural Production

The Green Revolution. A Watershed in Agricultural Production. Industrialization of food production in the Global South. WW II Food shortages CIMMYT – Chapingo , Mexico Rockefeller Foundation Norman Borlaug —1970 Nobel Peace Prize HYV seeds

caldwell-flores
Download Presentation

A Watershed in Agricultural Production

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The Green Revolution A Watershed in Agricultural Production

  2. Industrialization of food production in the Global South • WW II Food shortages • CIMMYT – Chapingo, Mexico • Rockefeller Foundation • Norman Borlaug —1970 Nobel Peace Prize • HYV seeds • [not “biotechnology”]

  3. PL 480 (Food for Peace) • U.S. grain surpluses dumped on the Global South • The “Green Revolution” to stop the “red” one (communism)

  4. Mexico, 1950-70 • Corn production 250% • Wheat production 8 X • Imported ½ wheat, now self-sufficient • Best results – irrigation districts, limited application to rain-fed lands

  5. Green Revolution Technology: Not Scale Neutral • Socio-political context ignored • U.S. = +land, -labor • Global South = -land, + labor • Increasing scale: • Tractor – requires larger area • HYV – stiff stalk mechanize harvest compact soil more fertilizer

  6. Technological Package • HYV seeds – purchase annually • HYV seeds – require herbicides, pesticides pest resistance pesticide treadmill • WWII nerve gasses • 25% of banned pesticides are exported • Persistent hydrocarbons (DDT) nonpersistent organophosphates (parathion, paraquat, etc.)

  7. “Technological Efficiency” • Corn: • yields, protein content • labor costs, unemployment • HYV seeds tested under ideal conditions; unsuited to poor soils worked by peasants • Monocrop production – lack of rotation depletes soil • loss of genetic diversity • Loss of traditional seeds that coevolved with their environment • Greater susceptibility to pests

  8. Cost of Fertilizer • 1971: fertilizer was cheap • 1973: OPEC raised the price of oil • 1 T. oil 1 T. ammonia 2-3 T. Fertilizer

  9. Social Differentiation • More wealthy, innovative farmers receive credit, technology • Concentration of land, displacement of peasants • Improved GNP, but failure to improve lives of poor farmers • 1970s: Mexico began to import grains

  10. Who Benefits? • TNCs – sale of inputs & outputs • Sales of top 10 agribusinesses exceed the GDP of 21 of the 28 Latin American & Caribbean countries • Progressivist View: • Scientists own the knowledge • Devaluation of indigenous knowledge

More Related