Green Revolution

The Green Revolution was the spread of high-yielding varieties of wheat and rice, together with chemical fertilisers, pesticides and irrigation, across much of the developing world from the 1960s. Building on plant breeding in Mexico and at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines, it sharply raised harvests in countries such as India, Pakistan and Indonesia and helped avert feared famines. Critics point to its environmental costs and its uneven benefits for poorer farmers.