The Green Revolution is now recognized as one of the main factors for the economic rise of Southeast Asia. It introduced new, technologically superior farming techniques to farmers, allowing them to achieve ‘food security’ – a ‘continuous’ supply of food. This created more economic opportunities for these farmers, who could grow ‘cash crops’ for more profits, starting an economic rise.

Southeast Asian countries greatly increased production of crops such as wheat after the Green Revolution.

Strangely enough, though, the Green Revolution actually started in Mexico, around 1944. At first, it was funded by the New York-based Rockefeller Foundation, the U.S., many other governments, and was led by 1970 Nobel Prize winner Norman Borlaug. It allowed farmers to use hybrid varieties of crops such as wheat, which increased production greatly. It also introduced new fertilizers, machinery, and irrigation methods. Combined, these steps allowed Mexico to become a major exporter of food crops by 1964.

Then, the Green Revolution spread to Southeast Asia, where food deficiency was rampant (in 1943, for example, the ‘Bengal Famine’ caused four million people to die from starvation). With wide government support, the program was successful, and now, some Southeast Asian countries are major exporters. India, for example, became a major wheat supplier in 1978-1979, when world wheat production reached 131 million tons.

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Ganguly, Saby. From the Bengal Famine to the Green Revolution

The Green Revolution

Wikipedia: The Green Revolution. 2006.

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