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Indian Express
14-07-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
New Delhi has chance to repay Green Revolution debt: Why doing so is in India's interest
It was William S Gaud, administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), who coined the term 'Green Revolution'. In a speech delivered on March 8, 1968, Gaud delved on the 'paramount importance of the world food problem' and how countries such as India were addressing it through planting of high-yielding varieties of wheat. This development, he said, had the makings of a new revolution: 'It is not a violent Red Revolution like that of the Soviets…I call it the Green Revolution'. It's the same USAID that has been shut down by the Donald Trump administration from July 1. Among the institutions impacted by the closure of the agency — that oversaw civilian foreign aid and development assistance from the US government — is the Mexico-headquartered International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center or CIMMYT. Synonymous with the renowned agricultural scientist Norman Borlaug, CIMMYT bred the semi-dwarf varieties Lerma Rojo 64A, Sonora 63, Sonora 64 and Mayo 64 that Indian farmers first sowed in 1964-65. Over the next few years, these varieties spread to more countries, heralding Gaud's 'Green Revolution.' While CIMMYT originated from a Mexican government and Rockefeller Foundation-sponsored programme in the 1940s and 50s, USAID became its main funder. It accounted for about $83 million out of CIMMYT's total $211 million grant revenues received in 2024. With the USAID's dismantling, CIMMYT is now looking at India — one of its major beneficiaries — as a potentially significant benefactor. Cold War institutions CIMMYT is to wheat what the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) — established by the Ford and Rockefeller foundations in 1960 — has been to the other big cereal grain crop. Both were key to the US cultivating soft power and projecting a positive global image, more so during the Cold War. That was the time the US saw the Soviet Union as a threat, and believed that the deteriorating food situation in developing countries could foment political instability and eventual communist takeovers. Increasing cereal grain production in these countries, then, became a geopolitical imperative as part of US foreign policy. With Borlaug's varieties, Indian farmers could harvest 4-4.5 tonnes per hectare of wheat, as against 1-1.5 tonnes from the traditional tall cultivars prone to lodging (bending or falling over) when their earheads were heavy with well-filled grains. IRRI's semi-dwarf varieties, such as IR 8, IR 36 and IR 64, similarly boosted paddy (rice with husk) yields from 1-3 tonnes to 4.5-5 tonnes per hectare with minimal fertilisers, and 9-10 tonnes with higher application. Moreover, they matured in 110-130 days, compared with the 160-180 days (from seed to grain) for the traditional tall varieties. Borlaug was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1970. And it was fittingly for Peace. How India benefited The Green Revolution was seeded in India by CIMMYT and IRRI. Even the blockbuster wheat varieties Kalyan Sona and Sonalika, released for commercial cultivation by Indian scientists in 1967-68, were developed through selections from the progeny of advanced breeding material supplied by CIMMYT. Over time, Indian scientists, led by VS Mathur at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) in New Delhi, came out with their own varieties, particularly HD 2285 in 1982 and HD 2329 in 1985. These raised wheat yields to 5-6 tonnes per hectare. It went up further to 7 tonnes-plus with HD 2967, which IARI scientists — mainly BS Malik, Rajbir Yadav and AP Sethi — unveiled in 2011. In rice, likewise, V Ramachandra Rao and MV Reddy at the Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University developed the mega varieties Swarna (MTU 7029) and Samba Mahsuri (BPT 5204), released in 1982 and 1986 respectively. IARI scientists like EA Siddiq, VP Singh and AK Singh also bred improved high-yielding basmati varieties, including Pusa Basmati 1 (released in 1989), 1121 (2003) and 1509 (2013). India exported 6.1 million tonnes of basmati rice valued at $5.94 billion (Rs 50,311.89 crore) in 2024-25. More than 90% of that was from IARI-bred varieties. Borlaug was once asked why the Green Revolution succeeded in India and not in most other developing countries, specifically Africa. He is said to have replied that it was because 'they didn't have institutions like IARI and scientists like MS Swaminathan'. The latter was instrumental in devising the overall strategy and implementation plan for the Green Revolution, with the full support of the then political leadership — from agriculture minister C Subramaniam to Prime Ministers Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi. Significantly, IRRI's chief breeder Gurdev Singh Khush — his IR 36 and IR 64 varieties were planted in 10-11 million hectares (mh) each worldwide during the 1980s and 1990s respectively — was an Indian. So was Sanjaya Rajaram, appointed by Borlaug as head of CIMMYT's wheat breeding programme when he was just 29. The major varieties released during the 1990s in India — PBW 343, WH 542, Raj 3765 and PBW 373 — were all under his leadership. Why India still needs them The accompanying table shows that six out of the top 10 wheat varieties, accounting for over 20 mh out of the roughly 32 mh area sown by Indian farmers in 2024-25, were directly released from CIMMYT material. The only notable indigenously bred wheat variety in recent times has been HD 2967, which covered a record area of 12-14 mh at its peak in 2017-18 and 2018-19. But the varieties released since then are predominantly based on CIMMYT germplasm. CIMMYT and IRRI, to that extent, remain relevant to India, which has a vital stake in both institutions. With the US under Trump adopting a more transactional, if not coercive, approach to foreign policy, India has both scope and reason to step up funding of the global breeding research and development programme. In 2024, India contributed a mere $0.8 million to CIMMYT and $18.3 million to IRRI. 'We should give more, but it must be for basic and strategic research in areas such as identification of new genetic resources for heat and drought tolerance, nitrogen use efficiency traits, gene editing and use of artificial intelligence tools. And it should be collaborative, not at the expense of funding for our own national agricultural research system,' said Rajendra Singh Paroda, former director-general of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. Harish Damodaran is National Rural Affairs & Agriculture Editor of The Indian Express. A journalist with over 33 years of experience in agri-business and macroeconomic policy reporting and analysis, he has previously worked with the Press Trust of India (1991-94) and The Hindu Business Line (1994-2014). ... Read More
Indian Express
14-07-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Express view: Lend a hand
The Mexico-headquartered International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) — synonymous with Norman Borlaug, the 'father of the Green Revolution' — is seeking financial support from India. This comes as the Donald Trump administration has shut down the US Agency for International Development, which provided $83 million out of CIMMYT's total $211 million revenue grants to fund its global breeding research and development programme in the two cereal crops. CIMMYT basically wants countries such as India to fill the void left by the US that, under President Trump, has adopted a transactional approach to foreign policy; it no longer sees value in cultivating soft power or projecting a positive image of the US on the world stage. There are at least three reasons why India should consider stepping up its funding of CIMMYT, or even the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). The first is that the money these organisations require isn't all that big. A country with $700 billion in official foreign exchange reserves can afford more than the $0.8 million and $18.3 million that it gave to CIMMYT and IRRI respectively in 2024. The second is the international goodwill this creates, consistent with the leadership role that India is increasingly taking within the Global South and given that it is also acting as a bridge with the developed North: There can be no peace and stability without food security. Third, India has stakes in both organisations that played a stellar role in turning it from ship-to-mouth to self-sufficient, if not surplus, in wheat and rice. But the challenge is to grow these crops using less water and fertiliser, besides making them tolerant to rising temperatures, salinity and other abiotic stresses. Breeding today for tomorrow's climate is a strategic imperative for a country that cannot, beyond a point, depend on others to feed 1.7 billion mouths by 2060. This extends to maize too. As Indians consume more animal products with rising incomes, the demand for it as feed — and now also as a fuel grain — will only go up. But it's not only CIMMYT and IRRI. India must simultaneously strengthen its national agricultural research system that has suffered from a lack of resources (too little money spread across too many institutes), leadership and sense of purpose. The Green Revolution owed its success as much to Borlaug as to MS Swaminathan, the Indian Agricultural Research Institute and a minister like C Subramaniam, who could make tough calls based on scientific opinion and what the situation demanded. Contrast this with the present procrastination, whether on commercialisation of genetically modified crops or allowing under-pricing of fertilisers, water and electricity. The Indian farmer today faces practical problems that only science and applied research, not subsidies, can address.
Indian Express
11-07-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
With USAID shut, Norman Borlaug's institute knocks on India's doors for help
Six decades ago, the legendary agricultural scientist Norman Borlaug ushered in India's Green Revolution through his high-yielding, semi-dwarf wheat varieties such as Lerma Rojo 64A, Sonora 63, Sonora 64 and Mayo 64. Today, his organisation – the Mexico-headquartered International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center or CIMMYT – is reaching out to the Indian government and the private sector, seeking financial support for its breeding research and development programme in the two cereals that cover over a quarter of the world's cropped area. The reason: A funding crunch brought about by global factors, including the shutting down of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) by the Donald Trump administration, officially from July 1. The agency, which administered civilian foreign aid and development assistance for the US government, accounted for about $83 million out of CIMMYT's total grant revenue of $211 million in 2024. That made it CIMMYT's largest funder, followed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (now Gates Foundation), which gave $42 million. 'USAID ceasing operations and other development agencies drastically reducing funding is going to significantly impact our agricultural R&D activities worldwide. While there may be some money this year from projects in winding-down stage, the real effects will be felt from 2026. We are looking for support from countries such as India that have interests in CIMMYT continuing to empower farmers through science and innovation and breeding varieties today for tomorrow's climate,' CIMMYT's director-general, Bram Govaerts, told The Indian Express. CIMMYT's advanced breeding lines are present as parent or grandparent in wheat varieties planted on more than 60 million hectares (mh) globally. The early Green Revolution blockbuster varieties that Indian scientists developed were all through selections from CIMMYT materials. That included Kalyan Sona (released in 1967), Sonalika (1968) and PBW 343 (1995), which, at their peak, were grown on 5-6 mh, 14 mh and 7-8 mh respectively. That hasn't changed much. Last year, Indian farmers sowed wheat on around 32 mh, with the top 10 varieties accounting for over 20 mh. Of these 10 varieties, six were released from CIMMYT-derived germplasm – DBW 187, DBW 303, DBW 222, WH 1270, DBW 327 and PBW 826 – and covered an estimated 15.3 mh (see table). 'Roughly 50% of the wheat cultivated in India now is from varieties released after 2019 and developed through collaboration between CIMMYT and national institutions such as the Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research, Karnal. Our partnership has led to India not only becoming self-sufficient, but even transforming wheat for the world,' Govaerts said. He cited the example of DBW 303, 'the first wheat variety in South Asia to exceed an average grain yield of 8 tonnes per hectare'. Some advanced lines, yet to be released for commercial planting, have even achieved 10-tonnes yield in CIMMYT's field trials. In October 2011, CIMMYT established the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) as a joint venture with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). BISA has three research stations at Ludhiana (Punjab), Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh) and Samastipur (Bihar). CIMMYT has also opened a 'doubled haploid' facility for maize at Kunigal (Karnataka), jointly with the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore. This first-of-its-kind facility in Asia produces genetically pure inbred lines of maize that can be used as parents for further crossing and breeding of hybrids by both public sector institutions and private seed companies. CIMMYT's India office has 19 international and 144 national staff. Besides, some 25 scientists from India work at CIMMYT offices all over the world. 'A tenth of our 1,800-plus global staff are Indians,' Govaerts noted. India's contribution to CIMMYT's budget was just $0.8 million in 2024. While CIMMYT began as a pilot programme of the Mexican government and the Rockefeller Foundation in the 1940s and 50s, over time it became more reliant on funding from USAID and newer non-profits like the Gates Foundation. With USAID's shuttering, India has scope and reason to step up its funding and have a say in CIMMYT. 'India is a neutral voice in world affairs. We, too, are a neutral and apolitical organisation focused on food security that is vital for peace. Borlaug's Nobel Prize (in 1970) was for Peace,' Govaerts added. CIMMYT's current research and field trials are aimed at raising yields as much as breeding varieties with improved heat tolerance, disease resistance and biological nitrification inhibition (BNI) traits. Wheat is increasingly prone to yield losses from mercury spikes in March, at the crop's final grain formation and filling stage. Studies show that every one-degree Celsius rise in night temperatures lowers yields by an average of 6%. By identifying traits in wheat plants that promote heat tolerance, scientists are able to develop varieties better adapted to hotter days as well as warmer nights. The BNI trait can, similarly, make wheat and maize plants hold more nitrogen in the soil, instead of releasing it into the atmosphere. Improved nitrogen retention in soil, in turn, can potentially reduce the application of urea and other nitrogenous fertilisers by up to 20%. CIMMYT has transferred the BNI trait into some of its high-yielding bread wheat lines. BISA, in collaboration with ICAR, has used these pre-breeding donors to develop a pipeline of BNI elite lines, which may be introduced in all-India trials by 2027-end. All this is relevant to India's future food security and consolidating the yield gains from the Green Revolution that Borlaug initiated in the early 1960s. Harikishan Sharma, Senior Assistant Editor at The Indian Express' National Bureau, specializes in reporting on governance, policy, and data. He covers the Prime Minister's Office and pivotal central ministries, such as the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare, Ministry of Cooperation, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ministry of Rural Development, and Ministry of Jal Shakti. His work primarily revolves around reporting and policy analysis. In addition to this, he authors a weekly column titled "STATE-ISTICALLY SPEAKING," which is prominently featured on The Indian Express website. In this column, he immerses readers in narratives deeply rooted in socio-economic, political, and electoral data, providing insightful perspectives on these critical aspects of governance and society. ... Read More
The Guardian
28-03-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Stephen Biggs obituary
My former colleague, Stephen Biggs, who has died aged 83, was an agricultural economist whose work focused on India, Bangladesh and Nepal. In the 1970s, as a programme officer at the Ford Foundation office in Bangladesh, he supported, with funding and advice, social experiments within government departments and among NGOs that could help small farmers access technological innovations (such as mobile pump sets for irrigation and small-scale power tillers) through cooperatives and small businesses. In 1977 he moved on to the crop improvement organisation CIMMYT, in New Delhi, supporting innovations in maize and wheat production across the South Asian region. In 1980 he joined the Development Studies School at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, continuing after retirement in 2003 as a research fellow until 2013. From the late 1990s he focused increasingly on small farmers and small-scale technologies in Nepal, and lived there for lengthy periods over two decades. He travelled widely in both the hills and across the lowland Terai region, combining a personal contentment among new friends with his ongoing professional mission: to encourage the use of small machines. He was committed to showing how small machinery could transform agriculture, awakening South Asian policy makers to how small-scale farming and informal economies worked. He thus connected to ongoing strategic debates about whether the small family farm has a future. Stephen was open and generous with his ideas and insights, keen to apply knowledge to the real world of struggling, insecure farmers on the relentless edge of disaster, and keen to see the social benefits of productivity-enhancing technology for the little guy. He had no time for the wiles and dark arts of institutionalised academia. He just wanted to help poor people. Born in Hadley Wood, Enfield, north London, he was the second of the three children of Rodney Biggs, a milliner with a hat factory in Soho, and his wife, Betty (nee Chaddock). The family moved in the postwar years to Hurst Green, East Sussex, where Rodney ran a grocery store. Betty died when Stephen was 11 – he was then sent as a boarder to Sutton Valence school in Kent. After gaining a degree at Wye College, London University's centre for agricultural sciences in Kent, he travelled to the US, for an MSc at Illinois and a PhD from UC Berkeley in California, on agricultural systems in north Bihar, India as the green revolution was transforming peasants into farmers reliant on complex supply chains and becoming market oriented. At Wye College, he met Sally Windett, and they married in California in 1968. They settled in Brighton with their daughter, Korina, and in 1969 Stephen became a research fellow at the Institute of Development Studies at Sussex University. He and Sally separated in the early 80s and later, at UEA, he met Venetia Nuttall-Smith, whom he married in 1986. After her death in 1997, during his years living and researching in Nepal, he immersed himself in Buddhist teachings. He sang in many choirs, and loved jive dancing, playing his flute, birdwatching and beekeeping. He is survived by Korina, and by his brother, Marsden, and sister Pene.
