GREEN REVOLUTION -2
Before the first and only green revolution , india was supposed to be the hunger bowl in the nearby 80’s. But with the introduction of high yielding crops , fertilizers and manures especially the synthetic ones , green revolution became a success and a landmark for future growth. In that phase , agro-research , public distribution system and media played a major role in the success of that revolution and got rid out of food shortage problem in india. It’s the media specially the radio that created awareness among the farmers about the utility and availability of these high yield paddy , wheat and others seeds. It’s because of this they used to call those as “radio varieties” instead of high yield varieties.
But now, in the present scenario, there is again a need of green revolution and on a much larger platform not because that present situation is as worse as those of 60’s. But because of rising and prospering nation , it’s the need to have food security and to completely eradicate hunger from down-trodden people, besides this to have a growth rate comparable to 10% , agro industry and agriculture on which about 50-60 % of working population depends directly or indirectly must be boosted. Erratic monsoon and uneven rainfall caused by global warming that intermittently used to cause flood in some region like assam , bihar and now these days in western ghats also and drought to regions like vidarbha and sometimes in northern plain too. This proposed green revolution is going to be different from that of previous one. It’s true that media and agro-research still going to have role this time too. But new sectors and educational field will embark the revolution.
Now, there is less dependence on high yield varieties as many are in market and easily available to farmers and also known to them. Synthetic fertilizers caused green revolution for 20 years about, but also ruined the natural fertility of soil. In the era of global warming there is need to fulfil the demand of irrigational water, provide better and technical education even at village level, increase living standard by availability of clean drinking water, electricity and better quality goods at rural markets.
For the irrigational water , one option is ground-water but that not only requires electricity but also cause ground-water depletion and it seems to enhance the global warming , it is also not going to solve the problem of drought affected region. Another option which is quite doable is regarding the connection of all major rivers of india , that’s a quite big project but with the intervention of world bank , NABARD , and private sector this can be achieved. This not only provides irrigational water to large area, but also bumps off the fear of erratic monsoon. This will also going to give surplus amount of electricity through the hydro-electricity from dams built in the process of connecting rivers, and provide employment on a large scale.
Better technical and agro oriented education can be provided by involving private sector where government should collaborate with private sector and run institutions where efficiency provided by private sector at relatively low price by the provision of assistance from government. This will not going to cause any burden to government, as at now also it spends a lot on rural education but due to corruption in the system efficiency is almost negligible to the extent money is flown into this education. This will make them aware about the new and more scientific level of farming where less emphasis is on use of synthetic fertilizers and more on natural way of increasing soil fertility like crop rotation, mixed farming, prevent land from being barren and cover with grass , use natural manures like compost that will take care of waste management also at rural level and serve the purpose of street lighting.
Availability of good quality goods not only improve lifestyle but also prevent migration of rural population to urban region for better lifestyle. The initiative taken by MNCs like METRO , Godrej , LG and others in southern villages and in central india too is quite impressive in this context and encouragement need to be given to others also to have their presence in rural markets too at ease.
