 By the time you finish this lesson you should be able to:  Describe the Green Revolution in India  Explain the reasons why it was needed  Describe some of its positive and negative effects  Predict similar causes and effects in other regions

 Food Security – a condition related to the ongoing availability of food  People who are “food secure” do not live in hunger or fear of starvation  Countries that are “food secure” have access to enough food to feed their citizens  Food security is the root of the Green Revolution

 High-Yield Variety (HYV) – a hybrid plant that produces more than normal  Dwarf and Semi-Dwarf varieties – plants that are smaller than normal varieties  Smaller plants take up less space, so more can be planted in the same area  Hybrid varieties do not breed true – they must usually be planted from new seed each season

 Subsistence Agriculture - farming in which the farmers focus on growing enough food to feed themselves and their families

 The “Green Revolution” began in Mexico  Norman Borlaug developed and introduced high- yield varieties of wheat in Mexico during the 1940s and 1950s.  Mexico became a net exporter of wheat (it produced more than it used) by  Borlaug was invited to India and Pakistan to share his methods with South Asian farmers

 More than 60 million people died in famines during the 18 th, 19 th, and 20 th centuries in India  4 million died in the 1943 Bengal famine  In large part, these famines were caused by poor harvests due to abnormal monsoons  The 1943 Bengal famine was made worse by the Japanese occupation of Burma in WWII, which normally supplied rice to the Bengal province

 In simpler terms, India has historically had problems producing enough food to feed its population  These problems have typically involved  Poor monsoons (we have gone over this)  Poor agricultural practices (today’s lesson)  Inefficient distribution (mostly fixed)