Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Agriculture, the world's largest industry, is one of the big-
gest contributors in these greenhouse gas emissions and sub-
sequently the changes in the climate, with maximum impact
coming from the use of industrialised inputs such as machinery
and fertilisers. Hence, before examining the effect of climatic
change on agriculture, it is imperative to understand the current
industrial agricultural system and its effect on climate change.
'Industrial agriculture' describes the agricultural methods used
post-green revolution and the term 'green revolution' refers to
the introduction of scientific technology into agriculture, espe-
cially hybrid seeds and chemical inputs such as fertilisers, pes-
ticides and herbicides. Green revolution changed the scenario
of world agriculture from a primary ecological process to one
of the technological developments, revolutionising the world's
food system. Before the 1900s, animals and human power were
used instead of machinery to manage agricultural crops, and fer-
tilisers comprised animal waste, crop residue and local organic
matter. Agricultural yields obtained from these low-input and
labour-intensive methods were low but stable. Pest outburst or
severe weather was avoided by growing more than one crop or
variety in the field, with farmers relying more prominently on
natural process of earth instead of industrial inputs. Hence, in
this system the relations between the agriculture and ecology
were very strong and the farmer's understanding of the ecologi-
cal process played a major role in the success of the crops. This
early agrarian system soon started shifting away from the eco-
logical methods toward mechanised farming due to the industrial
revolution, which formed a part of green revolution. Because
of an increase in population and subsequently the fear of food
shortages in the future, alternative systems of agriculture based
on modern machinery and technology became a vital part of
government policy by reducing the human input and increasing
the technological input. Hence, this industrial technology boom
changed the agrarian system and the face of society.
In the 1960s and 1970s, green revolution based on increased
use of technology further revolutionised the agricultural sys-
tem. Norman Borlaug, the father of green revolution allowed
Mexico's green revolution to spread worldwide by developing
high yielding hybrid semi-dwarf wheat in 1940s, which were able
to produce higher yields when combined with chemical inputs
such as pesticides and fertilisers. Soon with the help of various
funding agencies like Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
and the United States Agency for International Development
(USAID), hybrid technology succeeded in making its way to
India, Asia and across Europe. Hence, with the green revolution
