The agricultural revolution is the gradual transformation that initially allowed humans to change ways of food production from hunting and collecting traditionally food to Agriculture and animal domestication and the subsequent interventions and changes in cultivation techniques in agriculture that drastically changed food production.
The First Agriculture revolution in the world started around 10,000 B.C. in the middle east Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf after the ice age when the temperature began to rise in this area, and crops like wild wheat and barley started to grow in the Fertile crescent. Therefore, it changed people from bands of hunter-gatherers to agricultural settlements, and they started living in communities. This innovation spread to the rest of the world. Larger cities and civilizations formed that led people to an advanced stage of human learning. Hence, it is a significant development in human history.
The late 17th-19th century British Agriculture revolution is called the second revolution, which started in Britain and brought about a tremendous increase in food production. Other countries in Europe, East Asia, and North America followed this revolution which was the result of the interaction of Economic, Social, and Agriculture technological changes such as crop rotation, increase in farm size, use of the improved plough, construction of roads and canals, and use of selective breeding.
However, the Green Revolution of the 1960s is considered the first green revolution in India when modern farming techniques such as machinery, technology, irrigation systems, high-yielding seeds, herbicides, and fertilizers were introduced into cultural farming in the affluent areas of Punjab. The Government of India started an HYVP program in which high-yielding varieties of wheat from Mexico were adopted in 7 districts of 7 states of India, due to which India’s economy and standard of living grew exponentially as Agricultural Production increased, import of grains decreased as well as it brought many other benefits to the farmers of the country.
The crop productivity in India is significantly lower than in other developed countries, owing to several factors such as lack of infrastructure, proper irrigation system, fragmented landholding, and lower investment in the sector. On the other hand, poor management practices, excessive use of chemicals, and overproduction of certain crops such as wheat, sugarcane, and paddy have depleted the water table and contributed to soil erosion and air and water pollution in the country. Thus, experts and researchers agree that a second green revolution is needed to focus on sustainability, food security, and increasing yield and production of smallholder farmers.
