[size=150]400 million tons of food grain production as opposed to about 214 million tons in 2006-07 is the target of “Second Green Revolution. It is unlikely to happen to-morrow or next year, but it possibly may happen by 2020. To achieve the forgoing amount of production a growth rate of 5 to 6% in agricultural sector has to be maintained over next 15 years. Current growth rate in this sector is stagnant or at best 2% (in last ten years). The latter has depleted the country’s food stock and forced the government to negotiate import of 5 million tons of wheat. With practically no more land to farm and some depletion of the agricultural land,
Population growth in India is at the rate of 1.8 to 2.2% a year. With rising population and slow rate of agricultural growth, situation is likely to get alarming if not worst next in 5 to 8 years. . Shortages will loom. Famines may not visit India, but shortages will visible shaken the national confidence.
India’s agricultural history, especially in the 20th century, has been haunted by the Bengal famine of 1943, in which food scarcity led to the deaths of 4 million people. In order to combat a future national hunger crisis, the American plant breeder Norman Borlaug worked with Indian scientists, farmers, and politicians to promote the Green Revolution of the 1960s and 70s. New seeds, fertilizers and agricultural technology were introduced and, for a while, dramatically improved crop yields to feed India’s hungry and growing population.
After its initial success, however, the accumulation of chemicals in the ground damaged the soil and crop yields declined. Over time, more and more fertilizer had to be used to achieve the same yields as before, and for some farmers, the benefit of fertilizers and pesticides eventually outweighed by the costs it incurred.
Despite its growing popularity in India as well as around the world, some agribusiness companies like Monsanto worry that organic techniques just aren't as efficient as those developed during the green revolution, and will leave those immediately affected by the switch to organic without enough food to survive.
Worries about food distribution are justified. Approximately 2.1 million children under five die each year in India, with over half of those deaths directly related to malnutrition — of those who survive, another half will suffer from malnutrition-related stunted growth. Still, organic farmers around the world argue that given time, government support, and technological advances, the sustainability of organic farming will in fact increase the productivity and the safety of food given to those at greatest risk.
But, he added, many regions which witnessed the green revolution were suffering from environmental degradation and farm productivity had since plateaued.
“We clearly need a second green revolution that is more broad—based, more inclusive and more sustainable; we need to produce more without depleting our natural resources any further,” Mr. Singh said.
With a population of 1.2 billion that has grown at the rate of 17.64 per cent over the last decade, the demand for food grain was projected to touch 280 million tonnes by 2020—2021.
Rapid development had increased incomes of poorer sections of society fueling the demand, Mr. Singh said. But more needed to be done as India continued to face a major problem of under—nutrition, particularly among children and women, he said.
“Ensuring food and nutritional security and eliminating hunger, including hidden hunger, remain a high national priority,” the Prime Minister said.
“The challenges that India’s agriculture faces remain enormous,” Mr. Singh said, adding that much more than the current 0.6 per cent needed to be spent on agricultural research and development.
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