Implications of the Green Revolution for Land Use Patterns and Relative Crop Profitability Under Domestic and International Prices

The ‘Green Revolution’ of the late sixties was caused by the development of high responsive seeds (HRS) and the increased availability of irrigation water. New dwarf varieties of rice and wheat developed for tropical and subtropical regions have a higher grain-nutrient response than traditional varieties. Potential increase in yields per acre with the introduction of HRS are of the order of 50 to 200 per cent, given sufficient doses of chemical fertilizers and proper cultural practices [2, p. 58]. Since the introduction of HRS is confined to wheat and rice, the relative productivity of competing crops has changed substantially. In addition to government policies of input subsidies (water and fertilizers), price support (wheat and rice), protection (sugar-cane), and an overvalued exchange rate have affected the profitability of crops unevenly. This has provided an incentive to the farmers to change their land use patterns. This paper analysis the impact of the ‘Green Revolution’ and Government policies to assess the resulting efficiency of land use.