Image credit : waterencyclopedia

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s there occurred a “Green Revolution” in which scientists, through selective plant breeding, developed highyielding varieties of key food crops, especially wheat, rice, and corn. Relying substantially on these varieties, India for several years in the 1970s was able to feed its population of almost 1 billion, and still have grain left over for export.

Indian President Pratibha Patil said a “second green revolution was need of the hour” in view of the global food crisis. She said that agriculture should be taken up with the same passion and drive as at the time of the green revolution in the 1960s.

Farmers are converting more and more land for agricultural use to cater the ever-increasing food demands of humans.

As a result, more than one third of the Earth’s landscape is used for agricultural activities and this transformation has emerged as one of the driving forces of global environmental change, according to a new report from the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.