There were two vital triggers for the green revolution in the 1960s. Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, who invited C. Subramaniam to handle agriculture, provided the first. The severe drought of 1965 and 1966 resulted in a steep fall in the output of foodgrains from 89.36 million tonnes to 74.23 million tonnes in just two years. CS arranged massive import of wheat, around 10 million tonnes, from the US each year. Brilliant administrators like B Sivaraman, ics, then Agriculture Secretary, managed these ship-to-mouth years with great efficiency. A third person, also from Madras, M.S. Swaminathan, worked with them to sow the seeds of the green revolution that took India from food shortage to food surplus.

Subramaniam was impressed with the wheat revolution brought about by Dr. Norman Borlaug in Mexico. He arranged to import the wonder hybrid seeds. The dwarf variety helped in preventing falling of the wheat grains due to heavy winds and saved precious crops raised through hard labour. He brought together scientists, administrators and built an extension network of government departments and universities to help farmers understand, adapt and assimilate the new technology.

Of course, there were doubts on the efficacy of the new technique. CS selected 1000 demonstration farms and supplied them with hybrid seeds. These included the one around his house in Lutyens’ Delhi, spread over an acre!

In later years, Ford Motors India made large investments. After a gestation period of over ten years with massive sops from the government in the form of tax concessions, low-priced land, etc., it turned profitable. In agriculture, with modest investments, a new idea can be experimented and established in a crop cycle of around four months to a year. Thus, the rabi wheat crop sowed in November in the demonstration plots witnessed a bounteous harvest. Many farmers reaped three tonnes per acre against the average of one tonne earlier! It was certainly exciting.

Farmers hesitant to switch to the new seeds now demanded them. CS sent a SOS to Dr. Borlaug who then dispatched 18,000 tonnes of seeds. Promptly, the Customs Department sat on the seeds and quarantined them, saying seeds cannot be imported! CS once narrated to me the special efforts he made to get the seeds cleared, hoping that they had not deteriorated nor lost their virility during the detention and inspection process!

These imported seeds worked! Average wheat production jumped from 827 kg per hectare in 1965-66 to 1103 kg per hectare in 1967-68. The green revolution had begun!

The second major factor related to the construction of Bhakra Nangal dam and the canal network that ensured water to the then composite state of Punjab.

Subramaniam foresaw the potential of Punjab raising rice as a kharif (summer) crop. Earlier, Punjab was content with raising wheat during winter and the land was heavily under-utilised for the rest of the year. At the break of the green revolution, Punjab produced just 4 lakh tonnes of rice. CS set up the Food Corporation of India under T.A. Pai, assuring farmers to buy whatever quantity of grains they offered at fair prices determined by the Agriculture Costs & Prices Commission. In a short time, Punjab emerged a large producer of rice. In five years the average production of foodgrains shot up from just a tonne per acre to five tonnes per acre. The techniques spread rapidly to other grain-producing States. In just four years, foodgrain production of the country shot up from 72.35 million tonnes in 1965-66 to 108.42 million tonnes in 1970-71.

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I have had the opportunity to look closely at agriculture in different parts of India. Over the years I also observed different States focussing on crops suited to their agro-climatic conditions though not to the extent I observed in developed countries. In the US, for instance, the midwest States around Chicago concentrate on corn and soybean and have emerged large producers of these crops for domestic and global consumption. California excels in the production of almonds, grapes and tomatoes. Florida is known for its oranges. This trend is observed to a limited extent in India. Gujarat excels in the production of cotton and groundnut; UP, Punjab, Haryana in wheat and rice; West Bengal, UP, Andhra Pradesh in rice; Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan in soybean; MP, UP, Rajasthan in pulses; UP, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu in sugarcane; and Maharashtra and AP in cotton. This focus needs to be sharpened and expanded to help derive the best out of natural endowments.

In 2005, I had occasion to look closely at farming operations around Davis, California and the mid-west US. It was the peak season in Davis. Dr. Lux Lakshmanan, consultant to several progressive farmers, drove me through miles upon miles of tomato, almond, grape and other farms. There was huge production. The scientific methods of cultivation, nursing, harvesting and handling being practised made a deep impression. The large farms had high productivity of around 80 tonnes of tomato per acre. Likewise in midwest US, corn yields were at a whopping 10 tonnes per acre.

Back in India I looked at the work done by Tata Chemicals Ltd through their Tata Kisan Kendras in western UP. The blending of science, technology and management was extremely effective in the spread of cultivation of basmati rice in this region. Yields and returns expanded.

The late S. Balasubramanian, son of the legendary movie moghul S.S. Vasan and head of the Ananda Vikatan group of publications, was a specialist farmer of vegetables. At the Gemini Farms in Padappai near Chennai, he raised vegetables alongside his other farm rearing exotic birds.

Over the previous decade Balan had been experimenting and successfully promoting scientific agriculture. He had been sending soil samples from his farm to Lux Lakshmanan. These were analysed and test reports, along with the recommendations for enriching these through required doses of NPK and, more importantly, micro nutrients were provided by Lakshmanan. Thanks to the IT revolution, Balan could also use e-farming to an extent not practised by others. He used to send digital images of crops at different stages along with reports through the net. Lakshmanan helped him with the needed corrections and advice on enrichments, from testing and correcting the soil. The next stage was to go for high quality seeds and optimum fertigation. Lakshmanan trained farm assistants on these aspects. I witnessed steam bath of soil to make it sterile and special concrete seed beds to raise seedlings in sterile soil. These helped reduce seed mortality: from the earlier survival of around 45 out of 100 seeds, survival shot up to 96. Balan invested handsome amounts on mechanical equipment and implements. Tomato production in his farms shot up to over 40 tonnes per acre and capsicum to 25 tonnes. The special long bajji chilli, Chinese cabbage and other vegetables were produced in plenty. With sharp business acumen Balan arranged for marketing these profitably in T’ Nagar. (Courtesy: Industrial Economist)

(To be concluded)