The Green Revolution In Asia

The Green Revolution in Asia


World Issues
May 27, 1996
Table of Contents

Topic Page

The Problem ................................................3

The Solution................................................3
Background to The Green Revolution .........................3
Positives of The Green Revolution ..........................3
Problems With The Green Revolution .........................4
The Green Revolution in Asia ...............................5
Rice .......................................................5
Rice Pests and Solutions....................................5
China.......................................................6
Viet Nam Reclamation Projects ..............................8
India.......................................................9
Other Facts ................................................9
Conclusion..................................................10
Map of China................................................11
Map of India ...............................................12
Figure #1: The Rice Plant...................................13
Figure #2: A Field in the Philippines ......................14
Figure #3: Deepwater Rice in Thailand ......................15
Figure P0: Effects of Hoppers ..............................16
Figure P1: Habitat of Brown Hopper .........................17
Figure P2: Wolf Spider......................................18
Figure P3: Black Bug .......................................19
Figure #4: Irrigated Rice Harvesting .......................20
Chart #1: Rice Production...................................21
Chart #2: Fertilizer Use in 1993 ...........................22
Bibliography ...............................................23

The Problem: With the high and rapidly growing population of
Asia, many people go hungry. How can the world support these
people?; and, how can these people feed themselves? What cost
will this have on the environment? What is being done to help
these people.

The Solution: The Green Revolution is a solution that has
been at work since the 1960's. It has been developing new and
better ways at producing food.

Background to the Green Revolution: The Green Revolution
Started in the 1960's by the government of the United States.
The Green Revolution was started to make wheat more
adaptable to different environments. The grain was genetically
engineered to grow with a shorter stock (to stop damage from
wind) and the ability to grow faster so colder climates could be
sure that the crop was fully grown by the cold season. Warmer
climates could take advantage of these faster growing varieties
by having more than one or two harvests a season. The
developing countries produced a lot of waste through their
cultivation techniques. They used high amounts of labor that
produced waste so the developed world had machinery that they
sent to the underdeveloped to stop the waste.
The production of new wheat varieties has led to the green
revolution spreading to Asia and the production of new rice
varieties.

Positives of the Green Revolution: Since the Green
Revolution has started there have been nearly 5000 new crop
strains developed. Seeds for crops such as wheat, rice, corn, and
cotton have been upgraded four to six times. Farmers have saw a
50 to 130 percent rise in yield. Wheat production is about 50
times that during the 1950's.
The population of the world is rising rapidly and this may
be the only way for the earth to feed ourselves.

Problems With the Green Revolution: Problems that have
occurred are that the people that need the machinery cannot
afford to buy clothes let alone pay for huge machines that have
to be shipped in from developed countries and the shipping must
be paid for. Even if the farmers could afford the machinery, they
would have to be taught how to use it properly. Finding fuel, and
the money to buy the fuel, in the middle of Africa, for instance,
is impossible.
The developed world produced the new wheat and rice
varieties. To genetically engineer a new strain of food, a
company or government must pay scientists (including
agronomists, geneticists, biologists, chemists, nuclear
scientists, space-flight scientists), fund experiments,
laboratory space, and materials (to just name a few). The costs
are very high so the developing world would need to pay a fair
price for these new varieties. The money that the countries need
to pay for the seeds and machinery is borrowed from other
countries. This borrowing does not help the developing countries
but puts them, in most cases, into a deeper financial crisis.
The environment also pays the price for the revolution.
The new plant varieties use a lot of minerals from the ground
and the soil that they grow in is being abused. The soil loses
much of its minerals so a way had to be found to replace them.
Fertilizers, natural and chemical, have to be used in high
quantities to produce the special varieties. The chemicals seep
down into the groundwater and pollute the water to the point that
it is no longer potable. Many rivers and lakes such as the Huang
He River (refer to map of China) and the Ganges River (refer to
map of India) have seen the effects of this problem in the late
1960's when fish and waterfowl began dying unexpectedly.
Another problem with the Green Revolution was that the
new varieties, or modern cultivars, had started to make the
original varieties that farmers had used for hundreds of years
disappear. The amount of different types of seeds started to
rapidly disappear.
The modern cultivars have a major flaw. The flaw is that
the varieties are insect repelling. The rice's ability to fend
off insects is a problem because the next generation of insects
are able to fight this repellence and then new strains must be
developed. If the new strains are not found then insecticides
must be used which also seeps into the groundwater and poisons
the potable water. New varieties must be constantly found in
order to fight the pests. The battle is never-ending but it is
quite possible that the insects may win the battle and become
immune to all types of insecticide.

The Green Revolution in Asia: The countries that this report
is going to look at is the growth of the Green Revolution in
China, India, and a little from Viet Nam.

Rice: Rice has been dated in Asia to 3000 B.C. while rice
started being cultivated in the United States from about the
1640's when a ship that stopped while traveling to Madagascar
left a 5 Kg of rice seed. This started the Carolina Rice
industry.

The rice plant is figure #1.

Rice is grown from uplands to waterlogged fields. Figure
#2 is a mountain in the Philippines where rice is grown.
Figure #3 is Deepwater rice being cultivated in Thailand.

Rice Pests and Solutions: Pests take their toll on Asias'
rice production every year. About 31.5% of the rice produced in
Asia is taken away by pests in the fields and also in the storage
room.
Root Feeders are termites and rice water weevils. They
usually take their toll during a dry streak. The mature rice
water weevil does not do much damage to the plant but its larvae
feeds on the roots which makes the plant small, slow to develop,
and makes for a low yield.
Leafhoppers and Planthoppers attack all parts of the plant
to the point that the plant dies. A plant that has been attacked
by Hoppers look like they have been burned. The term "hopper
burn" has been given to plants that have been attacked by these
pests. An example of "Hopper burn" is shown in figure P0, the
brown area is "burned" while the rest of the field is hopper
resistant. They also carry rice diseases such as tungro virus
that can kill a whole crop. The brown planthopper, shown in
figure P1 where it can be found, transmits the grassy stunt
virus. Other insects that destroy rice are stink bugs which
remove the white fluid, known as milk, from the rice.
The Green Revolution is relying heavily on insecticides.
This approach may not be the proper way to do things.
Insecticides seep down into the groundwater and spoils the
potable water, while insect repelling crops do not last long
before new strains of bugs come around. New ways, which are
not very new, have been developed in order to deal with the
pests as well as protecting the environment. Spiders live in all
rice fields around the world. An important spider is the Wolf
spider which feeds on all stages of rice insects. Hoppers are the
main food source of the Wolf spider. One Wolf spider can eat up
to 45 hoppers per day. The Wolf spider is figure P2.
Pathogens, which are bacteria, fungus, and virus groups
also present a solution to the pest problem. The plants are
sprayed with a fungus that is not harmful to humans. The pests
start to eat the plant and they die. Figure P3 is a Black Bug
which is infected with a fungus.

China: Figure #4 is Irrigated rice being harvested by hand.
Every two to three years in China there is a new strain of wheat
that makes it to the market. The main reason for the need of new
strains is the constant threat of insects that adapt to the
current varieties.
Example of Wheat production in China: Wheat-901 increased
yield 39.4%. Over the past 12 years one hybrid, developed by
Yuan Longping, has increased production of rice by over 240
million tons. His newest strain is expected to raise rice
production by 20 to 30 per cent. The United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organization said that Yuan's work was "a
contribution to mankind as a whole." In 1994, China's farm
output doubled the annual total from a decade before.


Region
Area harvested (000 ha)
Production (000 metric ton)

South America
5,659
15,295

USA
1,336
8,972

Central America
552
1,929

Europe
378
2,113

Asia
130,027
485,077

Africa
7,235
15,855

World
1,456,187
529,241

Rice Production from
http://www.ent.agri.umn.edu/academics/classes/ipm/chapters/heinri
ch.htm

The population of China is projected to rise to 1.3 billion
by the year 2000. China will have to increase grain production
by 62.2 million tons per year for the next five years in order to
maintain the 400 Kg needed per person to maintain a moderate
nutrition level. From 1985 to 1993, the average yield rose only
54.6 million tons. At that rate there will be a 100 million ton
food shortage by the year 2000. The population growth, which is
1.5% , has surpassed the rise in grain production, which is
1.34%. View chart #1 for world rice production numbers for
1994.
To go along with the grain shortfall, farmland in China is
shrinking at a huge rate due to the growth of cities,
desertification, and soil erosion. China is losing 540,000
hectares of farmland per year. Due to the recent awareness of
the environment, the government of China has also said that
seven million hectares of land must be given back to the
environment and preserved for the forests and grasslands.
Pollution is so bad in China that most satellites cannot take
accurate pictures of certain major cities.
To combat the coming food crisis, China has started a
seed project where the government promotes the use of hybrid
seeds and sponsors a seed bank and makes a seed market. This
system will result in a chain seed industry by the end of the
century that is expected to raise staple crop yields by 10%. The
system that is currently in place is China's first national crop
breed bank, it has over 300,000 species preserved. It also has a
group of scientists that are working to isolate the most
promising strains. A Rice Center has also been set up which cost
the government 23 million yuan. There is no patent laws for crop
varieties in China so piracy and plagiary have slowed new
scientific developments. Some high yield seeds have been
locked in safes, while farmers still plant strains from the
1970's.
The government is getting involved with the green revolution
because they know that they will have to pay a lot of money for
grain imports. The government also sees that the business of
seed production is profitable in China, Zhongnong Seed
Corporation has consolidated 52 seed marketing companies and
five research institutions, and was founded in January 1996.
Education is an important key in helping produce enough
food for China. A farmer education program has been set up by
the Ministry of Agriculture that will be educating 8 million
farmers by the year 2010. Right now the education and technical
assistance that the government has set up only reaches 2% of the
farming population. By the year 2010, only the farmers that pass
a standard examination will be given a "green certificate" which
will give the passing farmers access to contract farming
projects. Chinas' government is educating its farmers because the
World Bank has reported that 23% of China's farmland has some
degree of salinization. Salinization is caused by putting salt
water on a field, the water evaporates and leaves a deposit of
salt on top of the soil. After an extended period of time it is
impossible to grow food on this area. Another farm related
problem in China is the heavy use of fertilizers. The average
per hectare rose from 1.44 tonnes in 1961 to 1.6 tonnes in 1965,
1.8 tonnes in 1970 and 1.9 tonnes in 1975. Then it took a huge
jump in 1980 when it hit 2.8 tonnes and the 3.8 tonnes in 1985.
View Chart #2 for world fertilizer use.

Viet Nam Reclamation Projects: The per capita income of a
person in Viet Nam is less than $200. 57% of the persons living
in rural areas, and 27% in urban areas, are poor. 78% of the 70
million people that occupy the country live in rural areas. In
Viet Nam, they are having problems with their supply with potable
water. The World Bank has set up a 150 million dollar program
that will basically send water throughout Viet Nam. This project
will take water from different rivers and will also build a dam
on the Dien Vong River, this is not expected to create any
environmental problems.
The reclamation of forests in Viet Nam has been started to
stop the destruction that has been reducing the forests that has
been reducing at a rate of 350,000 ha/year from 1965 to 1990. A
timber export ban has been set up to stop the cutting. The forest
project will cost $70 million U.S..

India: Produces chemicals, cut diamonds, and textiles.
Untreated sewage flows down the Tapi River while factories
produce thick smoke. Most of the pollution comes from small
factories which numbered 15,000 in 1950 and in 1994 the number
had grown to 2 million. A plague of rats in 1994 caused the
deaths of over 50 people. India has one of the largest population
growth rates at 1.9%. The chemical fertilizers have also taken
their toll on the environment, more than any other country.
Hydropower dams have created a huge problem as well; they have
flooded some of the best farmland in India. The cause of this is
the governments' inability to make decisions.
Water is a large problem. Groundwater is falling several
meters per year and the people just dig their wells deeper. There
is fierce competition for the control of the major waterways.
Overcultivation has forced farmers to clear forests. The
result of the deforestation is soil erosion. Freeman Singh, chief
of a tribe near Cherapunji puts it this way " If there is no
tree, how will the soil hold the water."

Other Facts: The world wears away 24 billion tons of topsoil
a year. This is almost equal to the topsoil on the Australian
wheatlands.
The earths' population of 5.7 billion could stand upright
within the 576,500 hectares of Brunei with some room to spare.
Grainland per person has dropped from 0.2 hectares to
almost 0.1 hectares in the last 30 years.
30% of the worlds' drylands have become deserts of some
kind. 3/4 of the dry lands in Africa and North America are in
some stage of desertification.

Conclusion: The Green Revolution in Asia is helping the
people grow enough food to sustain the massive amounts of people
that occupy the area. The Green Revolution is not just teaching
people how to grow crops efficiently, but the people are also
teaching the scientists the methods, such as the Wolf spider as a
hopper killer, that have worked for hundreds of years. The true
question is: Can the environment take the pressure that we have
placed it on? The answer is probably that we will kill ourselves
trying to feed ourselves. We are polluting the air, water, and
the types of plants that have evolved over thousands of years are
disappearing. The soil only has a little to offer but we make it
give more than it can handle and then the next year ask it to
give even more. At this pace there will not be anything left for
anyone to breath let alone eat.




Bibliography


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