ABSTRACT
The Green Revolution, phase one, was predicated on two contradictions and two misjudgements. Geneticists were asked to breed high-yielding varieties of wheat and rice responsive to massive doses of water and fertilizer. They succeeded in their job, but as the new varieties proved vulnerable they had to add to the production function another costly and often imported component: pesticides. Thus a highly capital-intensive package was offered to solve the problems of peasants and countries starved of capital. At best it could be applied in limited areas, channelling scarce investment resources into capital-intensive agriculture and increasing the dependence on foreign-made tractors, industrial and energy-producing equipment and the supply of fertilizer and pesticides.
