Previous Year Question

The Green Revolution was not based on a single technology; it was a strategy based on a combined package of agricultural inputs. Its major components included High-Yielding Variety (HYV) Seeds, assured irrigation, chemical fertilisers, and insecticides/pesticides. According to NCERT, the Green Revolution resulted in a large increase in food-grain production and was primarily based on the use of HYV seeds, especially for wheat and rice.

The higher productivity potential of HYV seeds could be realised only when they were supplied with the correct quantities of fertilisers and pesticides together with a regular water supply/irrigation. NCERT clearly explains that HYV technology required fertiliser and pesticide in appropriate quantities as well as reliable irrigation. This combined use is referred to as the package technology of the Green Revolution.

Therefore, merely introducing HYV seeds did not constitute the entire Green Revolution strategy. HYV Seeds + Irrigation + Fertilisers + Pesticides were complementary components used together to increase agricultural productivity.