Document #1
What is the Green Revolution?
The Green Revolution refers to the wave of technological development [research] that started in the 1940s to increase crop productivity in order to help developing countries face their growing populations’ needs.
The technologies of the Green Revolution broadly fall into two major categories. The first is the breeding of new plant varieties; the second is the application of modern agricultural techniques such as chemical fertilizers, herbicides, irrigation, and mechanization.
Beginning in Mexico in 1944, the Green Revolution continued in the 1960s to India and
Pakistan, where it is credited with saving over one billion people from starvation.
Dr. Norman Borlaug was the agricultural scientist who led the program. In 1970, he won the
Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. . . .
1. What does this document tell you about modern technological advances that were applied during the Green Revolution?
2. What evidence supports your answer?
Document #2
Implementation of the First Green Revolution
The [implementation of the] first green revolution—from the early 1960s to 1975—
introduced new varieties of wheat, rice, and maize that doubled or tripled yields. The new
varieties were highly susceptible to pest infestation and thus required extensive chemical
spraying. But they were also responsive to high rates of fertilizer application under irrigation. So, large- and medium-scale farmers in regions with adequate irrigation facilities, easy access to credit, sufficient ability to undertake risks, and good market integration adopted the new varieties. But these requirements meant that the new technology bypassed most poor African farmers.
Another reason that Africa did not benefit from the first green revolution was the research
strategy used. To short-cut the process of varietal improvement, researchers introduced
improved varieties from Asia and Latin America rather than engaging in the time-consuming
exercise of identifying locally adapted germ plasm and using this as the basis for breeding new varieties.
After the early euphoria with the high-yielding varieties, several problems became evident.
First, the need for significant use of pest and weed control raised environmental and human
health concerns. Second, as areas under irrigation expanded, water management required
sophisticated skills that were in short supply. As a result poor farmers growing staple food crops in Africa could not adopt the new varieties. What was crucial for Africa was to develop crop varieties that could thrive in water-stressed regions without heavy use of fertilizers. . . .
Source: “Realizing the Promise of Green Biotechnology for the Poor,” Harnessing Technologies for
Sustainable Development, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (adapted)
1. What does this document tell you were the problems Africa faced in attempting to adopt the Green Revolution?
2. What evidence supports your answer?
Document 3
. . . Industrial agriculture has not produced more food. It has destroyed diverse sources of food,
and it has stolen food from other species to bring larger quantities of specific commodities to the
market, using huge quantities of fossil fuels and water and toxic chemicals in the process. . . .
Productivity in traditional farming practices has always been high if it is remembered that very
few external inputs are required. While the Green Revolution has been promoted as having
increased productivity in the absolute sense, when resource use is taken into account, it has been
found to be counterproductive and inefficient. . . .
1. What does this document tell you were the problems associated with the use of industrial agriculture?
2. What evidence supports your answer?
Document 4
1. What does this document tell you were the reasons nuclear weapons pose a threat to the world community?
2. What evidence supports your answer?
Document 5
At the dawn of the twenty-first century, the Earth’s physical and biological systems are under
unprecedented strain. The human population reached 6.3 billion in 2003 and is projected to
increase to about 9 billion in the next half century. The United Nations estimates that one-third
of the world’s people live in countries with moderate to high shortages of fresh water and that
this percentage could double by 2025. Many of the world’s largest cities are increasingly choked
by pollution. As carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases build in the atmosphere, the average
surface temperature of the Earth has reached the highest level ever measured on an annual
basis. The biological diversity of the planet is also under heavy stress. Scientists believe that a
mass extinction of plants and animals is under way and predict that a quarter of all species could
be pushed to extinction by 2050 as a consequence of global warming alone. Without question,
the human impact on the biosphere will be one of the most critical issues of the century. . . .
Source: Norman J. Vig, “Introduction: Governing the International Environment,
The Global Environment: Institutions, Law, and Policy, CQ Press, 2005 (adapted)
1. What does this document tell you were the environmental problems that pose a threat to the world?
2. What evidence supports your answer?
