The Green Revolution really produced only one real technological
advance -- the breeding of dwarf grain varieties suited to the subtropics,
which made it possible for farmers to use irrigation plus high levels of
fertilizer. It did nothing to improve efficiency of N uptake (it generally
slipped); has led to all sorts of soil quality and social problems from
lousy irrigation practices (waterlogging, salinity, compaction); it created
many new pests, necessitating major increase in dependence on pesticides,
with all the attendant problems.
Had the breeding advances of the Green Revolution been coupled with,
and introduced in conjunction with comparable advances in soil fertility
enhancement and nutrient cycling, irrigation management, pest management,
and marketing, it would have had fundamentally different outcomes and would
deserve the credit and praise some still bestow on it.
Until people, institutions, NGOs, governments and the private sector
approach world food problems from a systems point of view, with a high
degree of discipline to assure that all pieces of the puzzle are in place
when and as needed, sustainable progress will remain hard to come by and at
best fleeting.
chuck benbrook
Charles Benbrook 208-263-5236 (voice)
Benbrook Consulting Services 208-263-7342 (fax)
5085 Upper Pack River Road benbrook@hillnet.com [e-mail]
Sandpoint, Idaho 83864 http://www.pmac.net
To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
"unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command
"unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest".
To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
"subscribe sanet-mg-digest".
All messages to sanet-mg are archived at:
http://www.sare.org/htdocs/hypermail