answersLogoWhite

0


Best Answer
The Beginning of the Green RevolutionThe University of Minnesota College of Ag, Food and Environemental Sciences

After 10 years of wheat breeding, Borlaug had plants that resisted rust and other diseases. Because they were insensitive to the length of daylight, they had the potential to grow in a wide variety of climates. Borlaug had gotten two thirds of the pieces he needed for the science of the green revolution. What was missing was a wheat plant that responded well to fertilizer.

To dramatically increase yields grown on Third World lands, drained of nutrients from centuries of farming, fertilizer was required. But traditional wheat varieties, even Borlaug's disease-resistant strains, tended to collapse under heavy fertilization. The extra grains in the head toppled the long, thin stalks. Borlaug searched for a shorter, stronger stalk; in 1961 he found it in a Japanese semi-dwarf variety called Norin.

Crossing his hybrid wheat with Norin resulted in disease-resistant, widely adaptable wheat that grew like little bushes. Not only did Norin provide a sturdier stalk, it tillered - sending up multiple stalks from its base. This meant more heads of wheat per plant. And with heavy fertilization, those heads grew fat with grain.

By 1963, 95 percent of Mexico's wheat lands grew the new semi-dwarf seeds of the green revolution. The result: a harvest six times the 1944 level, the year Borlaug arrived in Mexico.

Even Borlaug had trouble believing the adaptability of the new seed. Test plots around the world began to show similarly dramatic gains in yield. Climates from Sweden to Argentina would prove acceptable to the new seed. Borlaug had more than accomplished the goal of the Mexican project. Mexico was not only self-sufficient in wheat, it had grain to export. Mexican farmers, who a few years earlier didn't know how to use fertilizer, became international seed dealers, supplying the green revolution in other countries.

Using the semi-dwarf seed, Pakistan became self-sufficient in wheat within three years. National animosity helped the cause in this case. Pakistan ordered its first big shipment of seed less than a year after its archrival, India, became committed to the green revolution.

Between 1965 and 1972 the green revolution more than doubled India's wheat production, making it the third largest producer in the world. Side benefits included new fertilizer plants and tractor factories. In one year, village cooperatives sand 200,000 wells to tap India's plentiful groundwater.

The revolution needed trained workers, and Borlaug proposed a training program "in the new aggressive approach to modern agronomy." More than 20 nations sent young agronomists to Borlaug's program in Mexico. Politics made no difference in this revolution. Russians learned along with Poles, Israelis along with Turks. To make sure his "wheat apostles," as they were sometimes called, had the right stuff, Borlaug would start them with back-bending labor 12 hours a day in the fields.

It was common for young agronomists from developing countries to view themselves as an elite. They much preferred the idea of writing reports in air-conditioned offices to working with sweating peasant farmers. Borlaug's first young Mexican assistants insisted on wearing suits into the fields. The tasks Borlaug set them quickly turned the suits into rags. Khaki work clothes and Baseball caps became the uniform of the green revolutionaries. While working like the small farmers they were to help, they learned Borlaug's techniques for fertilization, wheat breeding, and soil analysis

User Avatar

Wiki User

14y ago
This answer is:
User Avatar
More answers
User Avatar

Wiki User

12y ago

Danny did dis. hahaha. guess wat Danny.

This answer is:
User Avatar

Add your answer:

Earn +20 pts
Q: What was the main reason it started?
Write your answer...
Submit
Still have questions?
magnify glass
imp
Related questions

What is the main reason why the holocaust started?

Because hitler was sexist


What was the main reason why Malcolm x started to improve his education?

Cause he smells


What was the main reason that the puritans started the Massachusetts bay in 1630?

to set up a democractic


What was the main reason that the Chinese came to America?

The main reason that the Chinese came to America was for the economic opportunities that existed here. They first started coming during the California Gold Rush. The main reason that the Chinese came to America was to find more economic opportunities.


Which was the main reason French and Dutch settlers started colonies in North America?

THe main reason for settlement in America was fur trade and land developement


What was the main reason the Chinese came to America?

The main reason that the Chinese came to America was for the economic opportunities that existed here. They first started coming during the California Gold Rush. The main reason that the Chinese came to America was to find more economic opportunities.


What is the main reason French and Dutch settlers started colines in North America?

They wanted to govern themselves.


What was the main reason the KKK started?

The klan was formed in the 19th century In USA to resist the emancipation of slaves there.


What is the main reason for the Apache wars?

The main reason for the war was broken treaties. However, each battle/resistance was different and was started by different circumstances. But the bottom line remains clear, the white man can not keep his word.


Why is the competition between wealthy patrons the most important cause of the renaissance?

The economy boomed because they were competing to get the most money, they were not the main reason though, the main reason is the science that people started to believe, instead of just religion


What was the main reason french and dutch started colonies in North America?

The main reason French and Dutch settlers start colonies in North America was the abundance of natural resource. The land was rich with just about everything from trees to food and minerals.


Who was first killed in World War 1?

Arch-duke Franz Ferdinand was the first kill in WW1, he was the main reason the war started