Green revolution refers to increase in productivity of agricultural produce due to use of high yield variety (HYV) seeds. These seeds increased the proportion of produce 10 times as compared to normal seeds during 1960’s, especially wheat and rice.
State of Indian agriculture after independence was very peculiar. Even though 75% of rural economy was engaged in activities related to agriculture, productivity was very low. The agricultural productivity was low due to use of obsolete technology and absence of required infrastructure. Indian agriculture significantly depends on the monsoon. If monsoon fell short, the farmers were in deep trouble unless they had access to irrigation facilities. The stagnation in agriculture sector came to a halt with introduction of high yield variety (HYV) seeds, which led to green revolution. This move was in sync with the goals of five year plan adopted by government to become self sufficient in agriculture.
Green revolution turned out to be beneficial for the economy. There was a significant increase recorded in the agricultural produce especially for rice and wheat. There was significant increase in the marketable surplus; farmers were able to sell more in the market after keeping a portion of produce for their personal consumption. This led to an increase in relative income of farm households, though there was a fall in the prices of the food grains. There were improvements in irrigation facilities, as HYV seeds require regular supply of water. Small farmers were able to avail loans at low interest rate and subsidised fertilizers, which was not an option for them earlier.