The Green Revolution is a term used to describe a period from around 1960 to 1990 when there was a tremendous boom in agricultural productivity in the developing world.

During these decades, in many regions of the world, especially in Asia and Latin America, the yield of the major cereal crops (rice, wheat and maize) more than doubled. There were significant increases for other crops, too.

Why the revolution?

So what brought about the revolution?

It happened mainly because governments in both developed and developing countries invested heavily in agricultural research. Modern science was put to use to find ways of producing more food and this revolutionized the way agriculture was done.

Intensive breeding and selection led to the development of high-yielding varieties of crops and more productive breeds of livestock. There were also breakthroughs in the development of agro-chemicals, like pesticides and fertilizers.

And to bring the revolution directly to farmers’ fields, governments supported producers with encouragements to use these new farming techniques and technologies.

Initially, the revolution was seen as a tremendous success. As populations grew and demand for food increased, so did the food supply. Food prices remained stable.

But since the 1990s we have become aware that the Green Revolution’s surge in productivity came with a heavy price.

Costs of the revolution

What have been the costs of the Green Revolution?

Well for one thing, we’ve lost a lot of our agricultural biodiversity. When farmers opted to plant new improved crop varieties and raise new breeds of livestock, many traditional, local varieties were abandoned and became extinct. Find out more about biodiversity.

Also, in many countries, the widespread use of pesticides and other agro-chemicals has caused severe environmental degradation and endangered public health. Find out more about pesticides.

Green Revolution farming systems also required substantial irrigation. This has put a real strain on the world’s water resources. Find out more about agriculture and water.

Finally, despite higher agricultural productivity, hunger still persists. To take advantage of Green Revolution breakthroughs, farmers needed to have some money and access to resources like land and water. Poor farmers who didn’t have either were left out of the Green Revolution. In fact, many even became poorer.

A sustainable revolution

It is FAO’s mission to help countries of the world ensure that the food supply continues to keep up with demand.

But the Green Revolution showed us it’s not enough to focus only on productivity. To end hunger once and for all, we must make food production sustainable. This means making sure no one is excluded from the table and that future generations will not be at risk of going hungry.

Find out what FAO is doing to make sure we all have food forever.