In the 60-70s. 20th century a new concept has entered the international lexicon - the "green revolution", referring primarily to developing countries. This is a complex, multicomponent concept, which in the most general sense can be interpreted as the use of the achievements of genetics, breeding and plant physiology to develop crop varieties, the cultivation of which, under the conditions of appropriate agricultural technology, opens the way to a more complete utilization of photosynthesis products.
Strictly speaking, there is nothing particularly revolutionary in this process, because people have been striving for such goals for a long time. Therefore, apparently, it would be more correct to call it not a revolution, but evolution. By the way, such an evolution was carried out much earlier in the developed countries of the world (starting from the 30s of the XX century - in the USA, Canada, Great Britain, from the 50s - in Western Europe, Japan, New Zealand). However, at that time it was called industrialization. Agriculture, based on the fact that it was based on mechanization and chemicalization, although in conjunction with irrigation and selective breeding selection. And only in the second half of the 20th century, when similar processes affected developing countries, the name “green revolution” was firmly established behind them. However, some modern authors, such as the American ecologist Tyler Miller, put forward a kind of compromise and began to write about two "green revolutions": the first in developed countries and the second in developing countries (Fig. 85).
Figure 85 gives an overview of the geographical spread of the second Green Revolution. It is clearly seen that it covered more than 15 countries located in a belt stretching from Mexico to Korea. It is clearly dominated by Asian countries, and among them - countries with a very large or fairly large population, where wheat and / or rice are the main food crops. The rapid growth of their population has put even more stress on arable land, already severely depleted. With extreme lack of land and landlessness, the predominance of small and smallest peasant farms with low agricultural technology, more than 300 million families in these countries in the 60-70s. 20th century either were on the brink of survival, or experienced chronic hunger. That is why the "green revolution" was perceived by them as a real attempt to find a way out of their existing critical situation.

Rice. 84. The main agricultural regions of the world
« Green revolution» in developing countries has three main components.

The first of them is the development of new varieties of agricultural crops. To this end, in the 40-90s. 20th century 18 international research centers have been established, specifically dedicated to the study of various agricultural systems represented in the countries of the developing world. Their location is as follows: Mexico (corn, wheat), Philippines (rice), Colombia (tropical food crops), Nigeria (food crops of humid and sub-humid tropical regions), Côte d'Ivoire (West African rice), Peru (potato), India (food crops of arid tropical regions), etc. The first two are the best known of these centers.
The International Center for the Improvement of Wheat and Corn Varieties was established in Mexico as early as 1944. It was headed by a young American breeder, Norman Borlaug. In the 1950s high-yielding varieties of short-stalked (dwarf) wheat were bred here. Since the early 1960s they began to spread in Mexico, leading to an increase in yield from 8-10 to 25-35 c/ha. Thus, it was Mexico that became the ancestor of the Green Revolution. The merits of Norman Borlaug were awarded the Nobel Prize. In subsequent years, wheat varieties more adapted to local conditions were obtained on this basis in India and Pakistan. The increase in yields here was not as great as in Mexico, but still in India, for example, it rose from 8 to 15 centners per hectare, and some farmers began to harvest up to 40–50 centners per hectare.

The International Institute of Rice Breeding in Los Banos (Philippines) has also achieved great success, where they have bred new varieties of rice - with a shorter stem, more resistant to pests, but most importantly - more early ripening. Prior to the introduction of new varieties, farmers in monsoonal Asia usually planted rice as early as the start of the rainy season, and harvested it in early December, that is, based on a 180-day growing season. New variety R-8 rice had a growing season of 150 days, while R-36 had only 120 days. Both varieties of “wonder rice” are widely used primarily in the countries of the South and South East Asia, where they occupied from 1/3 to 1/2 of all crops of this crop. And already in the 1990s. another variety of rice was bred, capable of giving an increase of 25% without expanding the area of ​​crops.
The second component of the Green Revolution is irrigation. It is especially important, because new varieties of grain crops can realize their potential only in conditions of good water supply. Therefore, with the beginning of the "green revolution" in many developing countries, primarily in Asia, irrigation began to pay especially much attention. As Table 120 shows, of the 20 countries with more than 1 million hectares of irrigated land, half are developing countries. But the total area of ​​irrigated land (about 130 million hectares) in them is much larger than in economically developed countries.
In general, the share of irrigated land in the world is now 19%, but it is in the areas of the "green revolution" that it is much larger: in South Asia - about 40%, and in East Asia and the countries of the Middle East - 35%. As for individual countries, the world leaders in this indicator are Egypt (100%), Turkmenistan (88%), Tajikistan (81%) and Pakistan (80%). In China, 37% of all cultivated land is irrigated, in India - 32%, in Mexico - 23%, in the Philippines, Indonesia and Turkey - 15-17%.
Table 120

The third component of the "Green Revolution" is the industrialization of agriculture itself, that is, the use of machinery, fertilizers, plant protection products. In this regard, developing countries, including the countries of the Green Revolution, have not made particularly great progress. This can be illustrated by the example of agricultural mechanization. Back in the early 1990s. in developing countries, 1/4 was cultivated by hand, 1/2 by draft power, and only 1/4 of arable land by tractors. Although the tractor fleet of these countries increased to 4 million machines, all of them taken together had fewer tractors than the United States (4.8 million). Not surprisingly, in Latin America, on average, there were only 5 tractors per 1000 hectares, and in Africa - 1 (in the USA - 36). If we proceed from another calculation - how many tractors are on average per 1000 people employed in agriculture, then with an average of 20 tractors in Pakistan, it is 12, in Egypt - 10, in India - 5, and in China, Indonesia and the Philippines - 1 tractor.
The well-known scientist and publicist Zh. Medvedev gave such an example in one of his works. The total area of ​​all farms in the United States is about 400 million hectares, i.e. it is equal to the total area of ​​cultivated land in India, China, Pakistan and Bangladesh combined (respectively 165, 166, 22 and 10 million hectares). But in the US, this area is cultivated by 3.4 million people, and in these Asian countries - more than 600 million! Such a sharp difference is largely due to completely disparate levels of mechanization of field work. For example, in the United States and Canada, absolutely all work in grain farming is performed by machines, and in India, China, Pakistan, at least 60–70% of these works are accounted for by humans and draft animals. Although the share of manual labor in wheat cultivation is still less than in rice cultivation. Of course, making such comparisons, one cannot ignore the fact that rice cultivation has always been primarily labor-intensive; besides, tractors in rice fields are generally of little use.
However, statistics show that over the past two or three decades, the fleet of tractors in foreign Asia (primarily in India and China) has increased several times, and in Latin America - twice. Therefore, the sequence of large regions in terms of the size of this park has also changed and now looks like this: 1) foreign Europe; 2) foreign Asia; 3) North America.
Developing countries are also lagging behind in terms of chemicalization of agriculture. Suffice it to say that, on average, 60-65 kg of mineral fertilizers are applied per 1 ha of arable land, while in Japan - 400 kg, in Western Europe - 215, in the USA - 115 kg. Nevertheless, it is precisely in the chemicalization of their agriculture that the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America have achieved, perhaps, the greatest success. Their share in the global consumption of mineral fertilizers increased from 1/5 in 1970 to almost 1/2 in 2000.
It can be added that the most mineral fertilizers per 1 ha of arable land from the developing countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America are used: in Egypt (420 kg), in China (400), in Chile (185), in Bangladesh (160), in Indonesia (150), Philippines (125), Pakistan (115), India (90 kg). In particular, this applies to nitrogen fertilizers, which in the countries of the "Green Revolution" are most needed to feed the rice fields. The same is true for many pesticides. China, for example, is only twice as big as the United States in terms of overall consumption and surpasses many countries in Western Europe. On the other hand, very significant geographical differences are often hidden behind the general indicators of chemicalization. Thus, in many countries of East and South Asia, North Africa, on average, 60-80 kg of mineral fertilizers are applied per 1 ha of arable land, and in Africa south of the Sahara - only 10 kg, and in the agricultural "outback" they are mostly not used at all. .
The positive effects of the Green Revolution are undeniable. The main thing is that in a relatively short time it led to an increase in food production - both in general and per capita (Fig. 86). According to the FAO, in 1966-1984. in 11 countries of East, South-East and South Asia, the area under rice increased by only 15%, while its harvest increased by 74%; similar data on wheat for 9 countries in Asia and North Africa - minus 4% and 24%. All this led to some weakening of the acuteness of the food problem, the threat of famine. India, Pakistan, Thailand, Indonesia, China, and some other countries have reduced or completely stopped grain imports. Nevertheless, the story of the successes of the "green revolution" must, apparently, be accompanied by some reservations.
The first such reservation concerns its focal character, which, in turn, has two aspects. First, as of the mid-1980s, new high-yielding varieties of wheat and rice are distributed on only 1/3 of the 425 million hectares that are occupied by cereals in developing countries. At the same time, in Asian countries their share in the grain wedge is 36%, in Latin America - 22, and in Africa, almost completely unaffected by the "Green Revolution", - only 1%. Secondly, three grain crops - wheat, rice and corn - can be considered catalysts for the "green revolution", while millet, legumes and industrial crops were much less affected. Of particular concern is the situation with leguminous crops, which are widely used for food in most countries. Due to their high nutritional value (they contain twice as much protein as wheat and three times as much as rice), they are even called the meat of the tropics.

The second reservation concerns the social consequences of the Green Revolution. Since the use of modern agricultural technology requires significant capital investments, landlords and wealthy peasants (farmers) were able to take advantage of its results, who began to buy land from the poor in order to squeeze as much income out of it as possible. The poor, on the other hand, do not have the means to buy cars, fertilizers, high-quality seeds (it is no coincidence that Asian peasants called one of the new varieties Cadillac, after the brand name of an expensive American car), nor sufficient plots of land. Many of them were forced to sell their land and either became farm laborers or joined the "belts of poverty" in the big cities. Thus, the "green revolution" led to the strengthening of social stratification in the countryside, which is developing more and more noticeably along the capitalist path.
Finally, the third caveat concerns some of the undesirable environmental consequences of the Green Revolution. First of all, land degradation is one of them. Thus, about half of all irrigated land in developing countries is prone to salinization due to inefficient drainage systems. Soil erosion and loss of fertility has already destroyed 36% of irrigated cropland in Southeast Asia, 20% in Southwest Asia, 17% in Africa and 30% in Central America. The offensive of arable land on forests continues. In some countries, heavy use of agricultural chemicals is also a major threat to environment(especially along the rivers of Asia, the waters of which are used for irrigation) and human health. According to WHO estimates, the number of accidental pesticide poisonings reaches 1.5 million cases per year.
The attitude of the developing countries themselves towards these environmental issues not the same, and they have different capabilities. In countries where there are no clearly defined land ownership rights and few economic incentives for agricultural conservation measures, where scientific and technological capabilities are severely limited due to poverty, where population explosion continues to be felt, and where tropical nature is also special vulnerability, it is difficult to expect any positive changes in the foreseeable future. The developing countries of the "top echelon" have much more opportunities to avoid undesirable environmental consequences. It is believed, for example, that many rapidly developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region can not only quickly and effectively introduce new machinery and technology into agriculture, but also adapt them to their natural conditions.

Rapid population growth after the Second World War in countries liberated from colonialism often led to famine in large areas, especially those prone to droughts or floods. Such catastrophic phenomena were noted in Ethiopia, Nigeria, India, Pakistan and other states that did not have strategic food reserves in case of natural disasters. According to calculations international organizations UN, in Africa, Asia and Latin America in the 50-60s. a population explosion was supposed, fraught with consequences on a planetary scale. The hunger of people in vast territories would inevitably be accompanied by epidemics of especially dangerous diseases, which would not bypass the development of the country.

Breakthrough in scientific research, associated with the genetics of the main grain crops (wheat, rice, corn), which was carried out in the 50-60s. scientists of India, Korea, Mexico, the Philippines, along with the widespread use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, opened up new paths in the development of agricultural science and practice. And this has yielded significant results in solving the food problem in a number of developing countries. In Mexican research centers, high-yielding varieties of short-stalked wheat suitable for the natural and climatic conditions of the tropical and subtropical zones were bred. In the Philippines, high-yielding varieties of rice have been developed. These cultures quickly spread in Asia and Latin America.

This phenomenon was called the Green Revolution in science and agriculture - for the 50-60s. came its first stage. It was characterized by astonishing progress in increasing the yields of major food crops as a result of the introduction of new semi-dwarf varieties of wheat and rice into widespread practice. The possibilities of combining the traditional for developing countries extensive development of the agrarian sector of the economy with intensive methods of agricultural production have expanded. In those regions where using chemical fertilizers, modern means plant protection, irrigation measures, conditions were created for the use of high-yielding varieties, the green revolution became an essential factor in solving the food problem.

Thanks to the green revolution, the predicted large-scale famine was avoided. It also contributed to the growth of farm incomes, accelerated economic development, especially in Asia. So, South Korea, already in the 70s. refused to import rice. And although the favorable consequences of the green revolution for certain countries turned out to be different, in the whole world, since the 1960s, grain yields have increased by 65%, and tuber and root crops - by 28%. In Asia, growth was 85% and 57%, respectively. In Africa, progress in cereals has been below the world average due to poorer soil conditions, less intensive monoculture practices, limited irrigation capacity, and poor infrastructure development related to agricultural credit, the market, and the supply of manufactured goods.

During the green revolution, the tasks of transferring new technology were not so much solved, but the improvement of traditional agricultural technology in accordance with the recommendations modern science taking into account local conditions. This includes small-scale irrigation, and the creation of agro-technical systems that do not require highly qualified personnel, and the development of farming technology for small peasant farms. In international research centers, work was underway to obtain cereals with a high protein content. Particular attention was paid to the implementation of programs related to the production of high-protein crops traditional for underdeveloped countries (millet, sorghum). The Green Revolution allowed us to win the time needed to stabilize the "population explosion" and relieve the acuteness of the food problem.

Despite the obvious successes, the first stage of the green revolution stopped a number of unresolved problems. All over the world, the yield of rice grown on irrigated land is not growing and even falling. For the cultivation of high-yielding varieties of wheat and rice, a lot of fertilizers and a complex of agricultural machinery are required. There remains a significant susceptibility of plants to diseases. And this creates a lot of economic problems.

During the Green Revolution, emphasis was placed on the cultivation of wheat and rice at the expense of the production of other products necessary for a balanced diet. As a result, for rural residents, there are risks associated with a change in the structure of nutrition. Moreover, such important areas as the breeding of highly productive breeds in animal husbandry and effective methods of fishing were not affected. At that time, the solution of such problems by developing countries seemed impossible, and for developed countries it looked problematic due to the high energy and material intensity of production, the need for large capital investments, and the scale of the impact on the biosphere.

The experience of the first stage of the green revolution showed that the intensification of agricultural production leads to certain social changes, radical transformations in the economy of a country. The strengthening of the market element in the structure of the agricultural sector led to a deterioration economic situation farms of a traditional type that met the food needs of the local population. At the same time, the position of modern commodity-type farms has strengthened. They managed, with the support of government organizations, to carry out such agrotechnical measures like the introduction of high-yielding seed varieties, pesticides, and irrigation.

The increase in productivity in the agricultural sector contributed to the polarization of social relations in the countryside. The intensified formation of commodity-type farms involved in the market turnover an increasing part of the agricultural production, capturing not only the surplus, but also that part that is necessary for the reproduction of labor power. The needs of the market reduced domestic spending, worsening the already difficult situation of the poorest sections of the peasantry. The low level of income of the main part of the population was the most important reason for the aggravation of the regional food situation. Attempts to intensify agricultural production, using the Soviet experience or the practice of the developed Western world, did not give the expected results for solving food problems in developing countries. For example, in the agrarian sector of African states, neither socialism nor capitalism became the dominant type of management. They are characterized by a complex synthesis of capitalist and pre-capitalist relations.

The search for rational forms of land tenure and land use in developing countries led to the understanding that the effectiveness of the agricultural sector is associated not so much with the introduction of new technology, but with an increase in the marketability of traditional agricultural production, focused mainly on self-sufficiency within historically established community structures. The positive Japanese, South Korean, Chinese experience rejects the notion of the universal priority of large farms. It is known that Japan, where communal collectivist traditions are strong and where there is a large shortage of land suitable for agriculture, has achieved significant results in agrarian development on the basis of relatively small farms, the average size of which is about 1.2 hectares. Small farmers created with government support effective system cooperation that provided access to loans and the latest achievements of modern agricultural technology. The Japanese small economy was able to fully use the arsenal of the green revolution. But the Chinese family economy, which is based mainly on manual labor and traditional technology and has not lost its natural and patriarchal character, has also achieved high gross indicators. World experience shows that small (up to two hectares) and medium (five hectares) peasant peasants can make a significant contribution to solving regional food problems.

Of paramount importance in this process is the allocation to the peasants of their own plots of land. Then they can provide families with food, and also have a certain surplus for the exchange of goods, which forms the local food market. A significant role here belongs to state regulation, which provides concessional financing, sales markets, and a favorable pricing policy. A national food market is gradually taking shape. Relatively small farms are included in cooperative-type structures with access to the world food market. For example, China has already become an exporter of rice.

As for Western Europe, the USA and Canada, where food tasks are solved mainly not through state subsidies to small and medium-sized farms, but through the development of agrarian complexes, the total volume of food production for the population is constantly increasing. So, in the countries of the European Economic Community (EEC) in the 60-80s. the annual growth rate in agriculture was about 2%, and in consumption - 0.5%. Therefore, the common policy of the Western European countries in the field of agriculture is focused not only on increasing labor productivity, but also, in certain cases, on reducing food surpluses. The latter is done in order to balance supply and demand, reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and plant protection products, and prevent degradation of the biosphere.

So, the experience of world agrarian development testifies to the presence of two tendencies.

The first is to take into account the regional specifics of food supply associated with external and internal disproportions in the economic development of countries, the influence of historical traditions of agricultural production with the specifics of natural and climatic conditions, and the ratio of demographic parameters.

The second trend is the formation of a modern national-regional agrarian system in line with global processes. Here are the inclusion of the agro-industrial complexes of individual countries in the world market, and the international division of labor, and the global orientation of scientific and technological development, and the effectiveness of economic interaction in the production of food products of regions with different natural and climatic factors, and the need to preserve natural characteristics biosphere.

The harmonious unity of these two trends is a necessary condition for solving the world food problem.

One of the main problems generated by the demographic situation in the world is the provision of food for a rapidly growing population. There are 90-100 million new eaters in the world every year, and the world community, with all its technological power, cannot yet adequately feed even those hungry ones that already exist. No country in the world has yet succeeded in increasing prosperity and achieving economic development without first dramatically increasing food production, the main source of which has always been agriculture.

The food problem is multifaceted, it has social, economic and environmental aspects. Until the twentieth century, most people on the planet did not have enough food for a normal or even tolerable life. From hunger, an extreme manifestation of the food problem, in the 20s. 20th century 2/3 of mankind suffered. At the end of the century, this proportion had dropped to 1/4 of the world's population, but given the population explosion, the absolute number of hungry people has not decreased. According to the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), more than 1 billion people are currently undernourished and hungry in the world, about 10 million people die of hunger every year and 100 million are at risk of death. The number of people whose food calorie content is less than the critical norm (1400–1600 kcal/day) is about 700 million people. (For comparison, the calorie content of the food of the prisoners of Auschwitz was approximately 1700 kcal.)

Note, however, that for economically developed countries, in which less than 15% of the world's population lives, the phenomenon of hunger or malnutrition is not typical. In the USA and France, the level of food self-sufficiency exceeds 100%, in Germany it is 93%, in Italy - 78%. These countries now produce and consume more than 3/4 of the world's food. Overeating and overweight become characteristic of their inhabitants. The total number of such overeaters is estimated at 600 million people - about 10% of the world's population. In the United States, more than half of people aged 20 and over fall into this category.

Agriculture is the main source of food for humans. At the same time, fertile plowed soils serve as the main resource for agriculture. But the area of ​​arable land is constantly decreasing. This process is especially intensive at the present time - huge areas of arable land are being torn away for the construction of cities, industrial enterprises, roads, "eaten up" by ravines.

Desertification processes cause great damage to agricultural lands: deflation and erosion are accelerating, and the vegetation cover is being destroyed. As a result of unsystematic use throughout the history of civilization, about 2 billion hectares of productive land have turned into deserts: at the dawn of agriculture, productive land was about 4.5 billion hectares, and now there are about 2.5 billion hectares left.

The area of ​​anthropogenic deserts is approximately 10 million km2, or 6.7% of the entire land surface. The desertification process is proceeding at a rate of 6.9 million hectares per year and is already going beyond the landscapes of the arid zone. About 30 million km 2 (about 19%) of the land are under the threat of desertification.

The Sahara, the world's greatest desert (9.1 million km 2), is threateningly expanding its borders. According to official data from the authorities of Senegal, Mali, Niger, Chad and Sudan, the rate of annual advancement of the Sahara edge is from 1.5 to 10 m. Over the past 50 years, its area has increased by 700 thousand km 2. But relatively recently, in the III millennium BC, the territory of the Sahara was a savannah with a dense hydrographic network. Now there is a sand cover up to half a meter high.

Along with the absolute reduction in the area of ​​agricultural land, there is a relative decrease due to the rapid growth of the world's population. Currently, there are about 0.3 hectares of arable land per inhabitant of the planet. (For comparison and nourishment of patriotic feelings, we note that in Russia this value is about 0.9 hectares!)

It is believed that if 1 ton of grain is harvested per 1 person per year from 1 hectare, then there will be no problem of hunger. The six billionth population of the planet needs 6 billion tons of grain, and only about 2 billion are harvested. One of the reasons for this is the small area of ​​arable land per person and their generally low productivity. The earth today is not able to feed all its inhabitants.

There is another calculation. In the biosphere, humanity occupies the top of the ecological pyramid and therefore must form a biomass significantly smaller than the biomass of the living matter of the biosphere as a whole. According to a number of ecologists, the biosphere remains stable if there are at least 250 tons/year of living matter per capita. Taking into account the total bioproduction of the biosphere, the allowable population of our planet is 3-4 billion people.

Therefore, it is no coincidence that global environmental problems (including food) began to manifest themselves precisely after the total number of people on Earth exceeded this limit. Now every year, in the face of exponential population growth, the severity of these problems is increasing.

Until the middle of the XX century. Few people thought about the fact that production cannot increase indefinitely and will inevitably run into limitations. natural resources, including soil, necessary for agriculture.

An analysis of the situation shows that extensive way solving the food problem by expanding the areas for agricultural products, the development of the still available reserve lands is unpromising. The rate of such growth lags and will lag behind the rate of population growth. It is predicted that the world per capita indicator of the availability of arable land by the middle of this century will decrease threefold.

These circumstances are directly related to the attempt to solve the food problem. intensive way, named "green revolution" . This was the name of the breakthrough achieved in the production of food on the planet in the 1960s. The "father" of the "Green Revolution" is considered to be the American scientist-breeder Prof. Norman E. Borlaug, laureate Nobel Prize world in 1970. Due to mechanization, chemicalization, irrigation, increasing the power supply of farms, the use of new higher-yielding and more disease-resistant varieties of crops, the most productive livestock breeds, it was possible to increase agricultural production from the same and even smaller areas.

The "Green Revolution" temporarily removed the problem of hunger in the tropical regions of the world. With the widespread distribution of high-yielding and low-growing varieties of wheat and rice in the most food insecure tropical regions of Asia and Africa, many developing countries have been able to certain time overcome the threat of hunger.

At the World Food Conference in Rome in 1974, the decision was made to end hunger within a decade. The main hopes then were placed on the intensification of agriculture through the development of new highly productive varieties of plants and animal breeds, the chemicalization of agriculture, the use of powerful machinery and new technologies. However, exactly 10 years after the conference and 14 years after Borlaug received the Nobel Prize, in 1984, there was a sharp aggravation of the food crisis, caused primarily by the most severe drought in the Sahel region of Africa, which claimed millions of lives.

Despite the achievements of the Green Revolution, a rather difficult food situation still persists. There are more undernourished and hungry people on the globe now than ever before, and their number is growing. The famine zone covers a vast territory on both sides of the equator, including Asia, primarily its southeastern part, the Caribbean and South America almost all of sub-Saharan Africa. In the latter region, there are countries (Chad, Somalia, Uganda, Mozambique, etc.) where the proportion of hungry and malnourished people is 30-40% of the population.

Scientists and practitioners, politicians and economists involved in solving the food problem believe that the "green revolution" has bogged down, and they see several reasons for this.

Modern new varieties of cultivated plants alone cannot provide miraculous results. They need proper care, strict implementation of agrotechnical practices in accordance with the calendar and stage of plant development (fertilizer rationing, watering with moisture control, weed and pest control, etc.).

New varieties of cereals are very sensitive to fertilizers, in addition, they need more water than the old ones in order to realize their potential; they are more susceptible to disease. This means that the farmer must have special knowledge in growing new varieties, as well as funds for the purchase of fertilizers, irrigation equipment, pesticides. When all this was carried out under the guidance of specialists and within the framework of the International Agricultural Program, a positive result was evident. However, in remote areas of Asia, Africa and South America, the technologies of the Green Revolution were not available to most peasants. The rural population of the third world countries turned out to be unprepared for the technological revolution that is characteristic of agriculture in economically developed countries.

When evaluating the possibilities of an intensive path of development, one should also keep in mind that the potential for mechanization, irrigation, and chemicalization has now been largely exhausted. For example, there has been a sharp reduction in irrigated areas due to limited water resources.

The German philosopher F. Engels in his "Dialectics of Nature" warned "... not to be too deceived by our victories over nature. For each such she takes revenge on us. Each of these victories, it is true, first of all has the consequences that we expected, but secondly and thirdly, completely different, unforeseen consequences, which very often destroy the consequences of the first.

The Green Revolution also had unintended consequences. These are primarily soil salinization caused by poorly designed and maintained irrigation systems, as well as soil and surface water pollution, due in large part to the misuse of fertilizers and crop protection chemicals.

When chemicals are used for their intended purpose, it is generally not possible to prevent their release into the air, soil, or water. These substances can harm humans, animals, plants, microorganisms, as well as buildings and structures, machines and mechanisms.

The harm caused to living objects of the environment is due, in particular, to the fact that these chemicals are toxic (poisonous), carcinogenic (can cause cancer), mutagenic (can affect heredity), teratogenic (can cause deformities), etc. The consequences of simultaneous exposure of several substances to the environment are still poorly understood.

Some harmful chemical compounds, once in the natural cycle, turn into harmless ones, while others retain their properties for years and decades. These latter, even with a small degree of their concentration in the environment, having entered a living organism (human, animal or plant), are almost not removed from it or are removed very slowly. There is an accumulation of these substances, and their concentration becomes dangerous.

New varieties of cereals are very sensitive to fertilizers. In fact, high yields can only be obtained by applying a large amount of fertilizer. Especially widespread are inexpensive nitrogen fertilizers based on synthetic ammonia, which have become an integral attribute of modern crop production technologies. Today, over 80 million tons of nitrogen fertilizers are consumed annually in the world. According to experts who study nitrogen cycles in nature, at least 40% of the 6 billion people currently inhabiting the planet are alive only thanks to the discovery of ammonia synthesis. It would be completely impossible to introduce such an amount of nitrogen into the soil using organic fertilizers.

High doses of mineral fertilizers often worsen the quality of agricultural products, especially in arid regions where the mechanisms of microbiological denitrification are suppressed. The consumption of such products by animals and humans leads to indigestion, acute poisoning.

Mineral fertilizers have a direct and indirect effect on soil properties, on the development biological processes in natural waters. Studies have shown that long-term application of such fertilizers without liming causes an increase in soil acidity, the accumulation of toxic compounds of aluminum and manganese in them, which reduces fertility and leads to soil degradation.

Fertilizers are washed off the fields when they are not used rationally or, unused by plants, are washed out of the soil by heavy rains and fall into ground water and in surface waters.

Ions of nitrates, phosphates, ammonium present in fertilizers, getting into water bodies with sewage, contribute to their overgrowing with phytoplankton.

For the normal functioning of aquatic ecosystems, they must be oligotrophic, i.e. poor nutrients. In this case, there is a dynamic balance of all groups of organisms in the ecosystem - producers, consumers and decomposers. When nitrates and especially phosphates enter water bodies, the rate of production - photosynthesis of organic matter by phytoplankton - begins to exceed the rate of consumption of phytoplankton by zooplankton and other organisms. The reservoir "blooms" - blue-green algae begin to predominate in phytoplankton, some of them give the water an unpleasant smell and taste, and can release toxic substances. Favorable conditions for the life of anaerobic organisms are formed. During the decomposition of algae, as a result of a number of interrelated fermentation processes in the water, the concentration of free carbon dioxide, ammonia, and hydrogen sulfide increases. The phenomenon of water saturation with nutrients, which promotes the increased growth of algae and bacteria that consume decaying algae and absorb oxygen, and leads to the death of higher aquatic biota, is called eutrophication.

Dependence of phytoplankton growth on the content of phosphates in water

Soluble nitrogen compounds not only contribute to the overgrowth of water bodies (like phosphates), but also increase the toxicity of water, making it hazardous to human health if such water is used as drinking water. Entering the saliva and small intestine with food, nitrates are microbiologically reduced to nitrites, as a result, nitrosillions are formed in the blood, which can oxidize iron Fe (II) in blood hemoglobin to iron Fe (III), which prevents hemoglobin from binding oxygen. As a result, there are symptoms of oxygen deficiency, leading to cyanosis. With the transition of 60–80% of iron (II) hemoglobin to iron (III), death occurs.

In addition, nitrites form nitrous acid and nitrosamines (together with organic amines from animal and plant foods) in the acidic environment of the stomach, which have a mutagenic effect. We also note that the water of eutrophic reservoirs is aggressive with respect to concrete, destroys materials used in hydraulic construction, and clogs filters and pipelines of water intakes.

An integral part of the Green Revolution's program to increase crop yields was the widespread use of pesticides.

Pesticides have been used before, they were the so-called. first-generation pesticides are toxic inorganic substances, which included arsenic, cyanide, some heavy metals, such as mercury or copper. They had low efficiency and did not save from catastrophic crop losses, such as the defeat of potato blight in almost all of Europe in the middle of the 19th century, which caused mass starvation. In addition, these pesticides altered the mineral and biotic composition of the soil in such a way that in some places it still remains barren.

They were replaced by second-generation pesticides based on synthetic organic compounds. DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloromethylmethane) played a special role among them. By studying the properties of this substance back in the 1930s. studied by the Swiss chemist Paul Müller.

DDT was found to be extremely toxic to many insect pests, seemingly harmless to humans and other mammals, persistent (hard to break down and providing long-term protection against pests), and relatively cheap to produce. DDT has also proven to be effective in controlling insects that carry the infection. Thanks to the widespread use of DDT, organized by the UN World Health Organization (WHO), the death rate from malaria has been significantly reduced, and millions of lives have been saved.

The advantages of DDT seemed so undeniable that in 1948 Muller received the Nobel Prize for his discovery. However, over the next two decades, serious negative consequences of the use of DDT were discovered. Accumulating in trophic chains, chlorinated hydrocarbons (DDT and a family of similar pesticides) became dangerous toxicants, reducing resistance to diseases, negatively affecting reproductive abilities and thermoregulation. Numerous deaths of various aquatic biota (river and marine), birds and other animals have been recorded. For example, DDT brought into the ocean by rivers killed predators that fed on the eggs of the “crown of thorns” starfish. As a result, these once rare marine creatures have multiplied in such numbers that they began to threaten the ecological balance, destroying hundreds of square kilometers of coral reefs. In the early 1970s the use of DDT was banned in most developed countries (including the USSR, where it was widely used in cotton fields).

In addition, pesticides have a detrimental effect on the health of primarily the rural population, people employed in agricultural work. WHO estimates that they still kill 20,000 people every year and poison millions of people, mostly in developing countries.

Currently, more and more attention is paid to ecological methods of combating agricultural pests, based on finding natural enemies and "set" them on the pest without affecting other species. According to entomologists, only a hundredth of the thousands known species herbivorous insects are serious pests, the populations of the rest are kept by one or more natural enemies at such a low level that they cannot cause significant damage. Thus, the first place is not pest control, but the protection of their natural enemies.

However, one should also remember about the unpredictability of artificial intervention in stable biocenoses. Here is a textbook example: immediately after the Second World War, on the recommendation of the WHO, to combat malaria on the island of Kalimantan (Indonesia), the area was sprayed with DDT. The mosquitoes that died from the insecticide were eaten by cockroaches. They themselves did not die, but became slow and were eaten by lizards in large numbers. In the lizards themselves, DDT caused nervous breakdowns, weakened reactions, and they became victims of cats.

The extermination of lizards by cats led to the reproduction of caterpillars, which began to eat the thatched roofs of the natives. The death of cats, eventually also poisoned by DDT, led to the fact that the villages were flooded with rats living in symbiosis with fleas carrying plague sticks. Instead of malaria, the inhabitants of the island got another, more terrible disease - the plague.

WHO stopped its experiment and brought cats to the island, which restored the ecological balance in its ecosystems. Cat landings to combat rats landed on the small islands of Japan in 1961 and on the islands of Malaysia in 1984 and 1989.

The failures of third world countries and international organizations that promote their development, trying to achieve an adequate return on investment in agriculture as part of the implementation of the "green revolution", indicate, according to many experts, the need second green revolution . Now the focus is on new biotechnologies, including gene (genetic) engineering.

Over the past 30 years, biotechnology has evolved into a scientific method for researching and producing agricultural products. However, the attitude towards genetic engineering is still ambiguous both among producers and consumers of agricultural products.

Proponents of genetic modification of plants argue that selection at the molecular level allows you to create varieties that are resistant to pests, diseases and herbicides, lack or excess of moisture in the soil, heat or cold. It also makes it possible to widely use local varieties of plants that are most adapted to certain climatic conditions of the region, which contributes to the conservation of biological diversity as the most important factor in sustainable development. It is argued that new varieties can be given high nutritional characteristics and other properties that are beneficial to health. Opponents of the creation of genetically modified plants and genetically modified food products, mainly belonging to "green" organizations, consider this last statement the most controversial and dangerous, a threat to man and nature, since the consequences of such modifications are unpredictable. At the large-scale World Producers Forum in Turin (Italy), 5,000 participants from 180 countries came to the unequivocal conclusion: GMOs (genetically modified organisms) are no good, they are harmful to the environment, to human and animal health. In the United States, where the world's first genetically modified product (tomatoes) went on sale a decade and a half ago, now 20% of the cultivated area is devoted to the production of environmentally friendly products.

According to A. Baranov, president of the National Association for Genetic Safety, the rejection of transgenic products, which is taking place all over the world, is a “revolution from below”, consumers vote against them with their wallets, for environmentally friendly products not only without pesticides, but also without GMOs. But nevertheless, for 10 years now, in all boiled sausages that we buy and eat in Russia, the filler that determines both color and taste has been GM corn and GM soybeans.

Disputes about genetically modified organisms continue, they are not only applied - scientific and economic, but also philosophical and even political.

Pesticides are substances used to control agricultural pests and weeds. They are divided into groups depending on the organisms for which they are intended. For example, herbicides kill plants, insecticides kill insects.

Non-state educational institution
secondary vocational education
Vologda Cooperative College

abstract
About the Green Revolution
in the discipline "Ecological fundamentals of nature management"

Completed by: Pashicheva Yu.V.
Group: 3 GOST
Checked by: Veselova N.V.

Vologda
2010
Table of contents

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….3
Agriculture is a type of human activity………………………4
Pros and Cons of Biotechnology……………………………………………………...5
The consequences of the "green" revolution………………………………………………….6
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….7
References………………………………………………………………………8

"Green revolution

The "Green" revolution is a set of changes in the agriculture of developing countries that led to a significant increase in world agricultural production, which included the active breeding of more productive plant varieties, the use of fertilizers, and modern technology.
The "green" revolution is one of the forms of manifestation of the scientific and technological revolution, i.e. intensive development of agriculture through:
1) technization of agriculture (use of machinery and equipment);
2) the use of artificially bred varieties of plants and animals;
3) use of fertilizers and pesticides;
4) melioration (expansion of irrigated lands).
There are two "green revolutions".
The first "green" revolution took place in 40-70. XX century, its initiator was a major Mexican breeder Norman Ernest Borlaug. He saved as many people from starvation as no one could before him. He is considered the father of the Green Revolution. Despite the well-known costs inherent in any revolution, and the ambiguous perception by the world community of its results, the fact remains that it was it that allowed many developing countries not only to overcome the threat of hunger, but also to fully provide themselves with food.
By 1951-1956. Mexico fully provided itself with grain and began to export it; over 15 years, the grain yield in the country has increased 3 times. Borlaug's developments were used in breeding work in Colombia, India, Pakistan, in 1970 Borlaug received the Nobel Peace Prize.
By the mid-1980s, scientists were talking about a second "green" revolution, which should occur if agriculture takes the path of reducing anthropogenic energy inputs. It is based on an adaptive approach, i.e. agriculture needs to shift towards more environmentally friendly crop and livestock farming technologies.
The "green" revolution allowed not only to feed the growing population of the Earth, but also to improve its quality of life. The number of calories in food consumed per day has increased by 25% in developing countries. Critics of the Green Revolution have attempted to focus public attention on the overabundance of new varieties supposedly being developed as an end in themselves, as if these varieties themselves could provide such miraculous results. Of course, modern varieties allow you to increase the average yield due to more effective ways growing and caring for plants, due to their greater resistance to insect pests and major diseases. However, they only then allow you to get a noticeably larger yield when they are provided with proper care, the implementation of agricultural practices in accordance with the calendar and the stage of plant development. All these procedures remain absolutely necessary for transgenic varieties obtained in recent years. However, fertilization and regular watering, which are essential for high yields, also create favorable conditions for the development of weeds, insect pests and the development of a number of common plant diseases. One of the directions of the second "green" revolution is the use of methods of "environmentally friendly" combating the consequences of anthropogenic interference in ecosystems. For example, after total deforestation, a gross violation of the local biocenosis, ecosystem occurs. Moisture stagnation and soil bogging occur in humid zones. Such water can become a source of harmful insects - bloodsuckers and disease carriers. Some fish are fighters of the larvae of harmful insects living in water, such as larvae of mosquitoes, midges. Thus, the main trends of the second "green" revolution are the minimal impact on the environment, the reduction of anthropogenic energy investments, the use of biological methods to control plant pests.
Nearly all of our traditional foods are the result of natural mutations and genetic transformation that drive evolution. primitive people, who for the first time traced the development cycle of plants, can be safely considered the first scientists. As they found answers to the questions of where, when and how to grow certain plants, in what soils, how much water each of them requires, they expanded their understanding of nature more and more. Hundreds of generations of farmers have contributed to the acceleration of genetic change through regular selection using the most prolific and strongest plants and animals.
Initially, selection was based on artificial selection, when a person selects plants or animals with traits of interest to him. Until the XVI-XVII centuries. the selection took place unconsciously, that is, a person, for example, selected the best, largest wheat seeds for sowing, without thinking that he was changing the plants in the direction he needed. Selection as a science took shape only in recent decades. In the past, it was more of an art than a science. Skills, knowledge and specific experience, often classified, were the property of individual farms, passing from generation to generation.
Agriculture is a kind of human activity.

Agriculture is a unique human activity that can be considered simultaneously as the art, science and craft of managing the growth of plants and animals for human needs. And always the main goal of this activity was the growth of production, which has now reached 5 billion tons. in year. To feed the growing population of the Earth, by 2025 this figure will have to increase by at least 50%. But agricultural producers can achieve this result only if they have access to the most advanced methods of growing the highest-yielding crop varieties anywhere in the world.
The intensification of agriculture affects the environment and causes certain social problems. However, it is possible to judge the harm or benefit of modern technologies only taking into account the rapid growth of the world's population. The population of Asia has more than doubled in 40 years (from 1.6 to 3.5 billion people). What would an additional 2 billion people be like if not for the green revolution? Although the mechanization of agriculture has led to a decrease in the number of farms, the benefits of the Green Revolution, associated with a multiple increase in food production and a steady decline in bread prices in almost all countries of the world, are much more significant for humanity.
Nevertheless, a number of problems (first of all, pollution of soils and surface water bodies, due to a large extent to the excessive use of fertilizers and chemical plant protection products) require serious attention from the entire world community. By increasing yields on the most suitable lands for growing crops, agricultural producers around the world are leaving vast areas of land for other purposes virtually untouched. Thus, if we compare world crop production in 1950 and in our time, then with the previous yield, to ensure such growth, it would have been necessary to sow not 600 million hectares, as now, but three times more. Meanwhile, an additional 1.2 billion hectares is, in fact, nowhere to get, especially in Asian countries, where the population density is extremely high. In addition, the lands involved in agricultural turnover are becoming more depleted and environmentally vulnerable every year. Yields of staple food crops are continuously improving through improved tillage, irrigation, fertilization, weed and pest control, and reduced harvest losses. However, it is already clear that significant efforts, both traditional breeding and modern agricultural biotechnology, will be required to achieve the genetic improvement of food plants at a pace that would satisfy the needs of 8.3 billion people by 2025.

Pros and cons of biotechnology.

Over the past 35 years, biotechnology, using recombinant (obtained by joining together unnaturally occurring fragments) DNA, has become an invaluable new scientific method for researching and producing agricultural products. This unprecedented penetration into the depths of the genome - to the molecular level - should be regarded as one of the most important milestones on the path of endless knowledge of nature. Recombinant DNA allows breeders to select and introduce genes “one by one” into plants, which not only dramatically reduces research time compared to traditional breeding, eliminating the need to spend it on “unnecessary” genes, but also makes it possible to obtain “useful” genes from the most different types plants. This genetic transformation holds enormous benefits for agricultural producers, in particular by increasing plant resistance to insect pests, diseases and herbicides. Additional benefits are associated with the breeding of varieties that are more resistant to lack or excess of moisture in the soil, as well as to heat or cold - the main characteristics of modern forecasts of future climatic cataclysms.
Today, the prospects of agricultural biotechnology to provide such plants that will be used as medicines or vaccines look more and more real. We will simply grow such plants and eat their fruits to cure or prevent many diseases. It is hard to imagine how important this could be for poor countries, where conventional pharmaceuticals are still a novelty and traditional WHO vaccination programs are proving too expensive and difficult to implement. This line of research should be supported in every possible way, including through the aforementioned cooperation between the public and private sectors of the economy. Of course, poor countries will have to develop reasonable regulatory mechanisms to most effectively guide the development of the production, testing and use of GM products to protect both public health and the environment. In addition, the intellectual property of private companies also needs to be protected in order to ensure a fair return on past investments and ensure their growth in the future.
The current fierce debate about transgenic crops is focused on the safety of GMOs. Concerns about the potential dangers of GMOs are based largely on the notion that the introduction of "foreign" DNA into the main varieties of food crops is "unnatural" and, therefore, is accompanied by an unavoidable health risk. But since all living organisms, including food plants, animals, microbes, etc., contain DNA, how can recombinant DNA be considered “unnatural”? Even to define the concept of "foreign gene" is problematic, since many genes turn out to be common to a variety of organisms. The requirements for GM products are much higher than for varieties obtained as a result of conventional breeding and even breeding in which mutations are caused by irradiation or the use of chemicals. At the same time, society must be clearly aware that there is no “zero biological risk” in nature, the idea of ​​​​which is just the embodiment of the “precautionary principle” not based on any scientific data.

Consequences of the "green" revolution.

The main goal of the "green" revolution was to increase agricultural production. products. But active human intervention in the life of natural ecosystems has led to a number of negative consequences:

1) soil degradation.

The reasons:
-technization, chemicalization, melioration

2) pollution of the biosphere with pesticides.

The reasons:
-chemicalization

3) violation of the natural balance of ecosystems.

The reasons:
- artificial breeding of plant and animal varieties

Soil degradation is a gradual deterioration of soil properties caused by a change in soil formation conditions as a result of natural causes or human activities and is accompanied by a decrease in humus content, destruction of soil structure and a decrease in fertility.

The main resource of the agrosystem - soil - is the surface fertile layer earth's crust created under the combined influence of external conditions: heat, water, air, plant and animal organisms, especially microorganisms.

Fertility is the ability of the soil to provide plants with the necessary amount of nutrients, water and air.
Fertility depends on the stock of organic substances - humus, the content of nutrients available to plants, and moisture availability. As a result of the use of mineral fertilizers, microorganisms that destroy humus are activated, i.e. soil fertility is declining.

Pollution of the biosphere with pesticides.
Over the past 50 years, the use of mineral fertilizers has increased by 43 times, pesticides by 10 times, which has led to the pollution of individual components of the biosphere: soil, water, vegetation. Because of this pollution, the living population of the soil is depleted - the number of soil animals, algae, and microorganisms is reduced.

Conclusion.

The Green Revolution has made it possible to achieve success in the war against hunger waged by mankind. However, scientific minds emphasize that until it is possible to slow down the growth rate of the world's population, any achievements of the "green" revolution will be ephemeral. Already today, humanity has technologies (either completely ready for use or at the final stage of development) that can reliably feed 30 billion people. Over the past 100 years, scientists have been able to apply their dramatically expanded knowledge of genetics, plant physiology, pathology, entomology and other disciplines to noticeably accelerate the process of combining high plant yield with high tolerance to a wide range of biotic and abiotic stresses.

Literature.

Arustamov - "Ecological foundations of nature management".
M.V. Galperin - "Ecological foundations of nature management".

Let's try to analyze one of the controversial phenomena in agriculture of the twentieth century, called the "green revolution".

One of the most acute problems facing mankind is the food problem. Today, several tens of millions of people die of hunger every year in the world, more children than adults. Countries that are short of food are forced to import it, but this has little and short-term effect in the fight against hunger and, moreover, makes these countries dependent on exporters. Grain, thus, turns into an effective tool of socio-economic, political pressure and becomes, in fact, a "food weapon", primarily against the poorest countries.

The founder and president of the Club of Rome, Aurelio Peccei, wrote: “Is it possible that, after armaments and oil, food will also turn into a political weapon and a means of political pressure, and because of our own recklessness, we are destined, in the end, to become witnesses of such a“ solution ”of the problem as the revival of the feudal

monopoly right to sort people and entire nations and to decide who gets food and therefore lives.”(11)

Scientist-breeder, one of the most famous people in the world, Nobel Peace Prize winner with the wording "For his contribution to solving the food problem, and especially for the implementation green revolution" (1970) Norman Borlaug said: "Agriculture is a unique human activity that can be simultaneously considered as an art, science and craft of managing the growth of plants and animals for human needs. And the main goal of this activity has always been the growth of production, which has now reached 5 billion tons per year. To feed the growing population of the Earth, by 2025 this figure will have to increase by at least 50%. But agricultural producers can achieve this result only if they have access to the most advanced methods of growing the highest yielding varieties anywhere in the world. cultivated plants. To do this, they also need to master all the latest developments in agricultural biotechnology. "(14)

The term "green revolution" was first used in 1968 by the director of the United States Agency for International Development, William Goud, trying to characterize the breakthrough achieved in the production of food on the planet due to the widespread distribution of new high-yielding and low-growing varieties of wheat and rice in the countries of Asia, suffering from food shortages. (fifteen)

"Green revolution"

A set of changes in agriculture in developing countries that took place in the 1940s

1970s and led to a significant increase in world agricultural production.

This complex included the active breeding of more productive plant varieties, the expansion of irrigation, the use of fertilizers, pesticides, and modern technology.

The essence of the "green revolution" was to dramatically increase the productivity of agriculture by using new highly productive varieties of wheat and rice. For this, it was supposed to modernize agricultural production on the basis of modern technologies. The "Green Revolution" was adopted by many developing countries, but had both positive and negative consequences. In those states where there were appropriate social prerequisites for the reorganization of the countryside and the necessary funds for this, it gave positive results. But there were few such countries, for example, India, Pakistan. For others, the most backward, who did not have the means to buy equipment and fertilizers, who had an extremely low level of education, where conservative traditions and religious prejudices prevented the introduction

progressive forms of farming, the "green revolution" did not bring success. Moreover, it began to destroy the traditional small farms, increased the outflow of villagers to the city, who replenished the army of the unemployed. She was unable to put in place a new, modern agriculture, i.e. destroying the old, was unable to replace it with a new one, which further exacerbated the food problem.(15)

By the way, such a revolution was carried out much earlier in the developed countries of the world (starting from the 30s of the XX century

In USA, Canada, UK, since the 50s

Western Europe, Japan, New Zealand). However, at that time it was called the industrialization of agriculture, based on the fact that it was based on its mechanization and chemicalization, although in conjunction with irrigation and breeding selection. And only in the second half of the 20th century, when similar processes affected developing countries, the name "green revolution" was firmly established behind them.

Borlaug was convinced that the "Green Revolution" marked the beginning of new era development of agriculture on the planet, an era in which agricultural science was able to offer a number of improved technologies in accordance with the specific conditions characteristic of farms in developing countries. (14)

Despite the well-known costs inherent in any revolution, and the ambiguous perception by the world community of its results, the fact remains that it was it that allowed many developing countries not only to overcome the threat of hunger, but also to fully provide themselves with food.

The crops that made the Green Revolution possible were not produced by modern genetic engineering methods, but by conventional, decades-old plant breeding. The "Green Revolution" made it possible not only to feed the growing population of the Earth, but also to improve its quality of life.

Like any other phenomenon, the "green revolution" in addition to positive aspects has negative ones. As early as the 1970s, Borlaug's work was criticized by environmentalists. Some experts believe that the "green revolution" has led to the depletion and even erosion of soils in several regions of the world, and also contributed to the growth of environmental pollution with fertilizers and pesticides.

Indeed unwanted environmental impact"Green Revolution" are very big. First of all, land degradation is one of them. Thus, about half of all irrigated land in developing countries is prone to salinization due to inefficient drainage systems.

The offensive of arable land on forests continues. In some countries, heavy use of agricultural chemicals is also a major threat to the environment and human health (especially along Asian rivers used for irrigation). Due to the widespread use of mineral fertilizers and pesticides, environmental problems have arisen. The intensification of agriculture has disturbed the water regime of soils, which has caused large-scale salinization and desertification. (13)

A case in point is DDT. This substance has even been found in the animals of Antarctica, thousands of kilometers from the nearest places of application of this chemical.

Thus, the "green revolution" led to an increase in social stratification in the countryside, which is developing more and more noticeably along the capitalist path. The "Green Revolution" contributed to globalization and the takeover of the markets for seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and agricultural machinery in developing countries by American companies. (10)

These circumstances led to the fact that at the end of the XX century actually began and is now developing " third green revolution ", whose distinctive features are:

Introduction of genetic engineering methods into the practice of creating new varieties and even types of crops and highly productive livestock breeds;

Refusal of the massive use of chemical fertilizers and replacing them, if possible, with biogenic fertilizers (manure, compost, etc.), returning to the practice of crop rotation, when, in order to saturate the soil with bound nitrogen, instead of applying nitrogen fertilizers, periodic sowing of clover, alfalfa (which serve as excellent fodder) is carried out for livestock) and other plants of the legume family;

Creation of especially undemanding, but high-yielding varieties resistant to drought and diseases;

Replacing pesticides with narrowly focused biological methods of crop pest control, and if necessary, using only short-lived pesticides that break down into harmless substances under the influence of light or due to oxidation within a few hours or days. (10)