Who among the following used the term 'Green Revolution' for increasing agricultural production in India?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → M.S. Swaminathan
The Green Revolution is the sharp rise in food grain output that came from high-yielding varieties (HYV) of seeds, used with irrigation, chemical fertilisers and pesticides. In India it began in the mid-1960s, first with wheat in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh.
The agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan brought the high-yielding dwarf wheat varieties to India, tested and adapted them to Indian fields, and led the programme that spread them. That is why he is called the father of the Green Revolution in India. The American scientist Norman Borlaug, who bred those wheat varieties in Mexico, is called the father of the Green Revolution worldwide; he did not lead the programme in India.
Note: The phrase ‘Green Revolution’ itself was first used in March 1968 by William S. Gaud, an American official of USAID, and he is not among the options. One can read the question as asking who is linked with the Green Revolution in India, and on that reading M.S. Swaminathan is the most appropriate answer.